A couple of days ago, a Spanish company associated to Valencia's Citrus Committee reported a fraudulent company within the sector operating under the name Heron Foods Limited, which has been attempting to pose as the British firm Heron Foods, a food retailer based in Yorkshire.
"We first received a fax with an order for 33 pallets of Nadorcott mandarins and 66 pallets of Navel Lane Late oranges," explained the manager of the Valencian company. "The payment conditions (30 days after delivery of the goods) strike us as odd, and we proceeded to phone a person allegedly called Mr Andrews Henck, who did not raise any objections regarding the price or form of payment, raising our suspicions even more."
After the Valencian company checked that the name of the fraudulent firm did not fully match that of Heron Foods, they got in contact with the latter to report the issue. They confirmed to be already aware of the problem and to having reported them to the British police for fraud and impersonation.
"We want the sector to be aware of their existence so that fraud can be prevented," stated sources from the exporter.