In line with the company’s vehicle replacement policy, the first 50 units handed over form part of the massive order of 250 trucks. The remaining units will be delivered in batches in the coming years with the aim to ultimately replace the company’s existing non-Daimler Truck fleet.

Benjamin Mavros, COO Baker’s Inn, had this to say about the new fleet: “This is an incredible milestone for our company, our government and the people of Zimbabwe that we take ownership of 50 brand new FUSO Trucks.

“For us this is an exciting time as we move into a new chapter of our lives. With our growing economy and population, it is our goal to increase production to 1 000 000 loaves a day. We are pleased to have identified a partner in ZIMOCO, FUSO Trucks as well as Daimler Truck Southern Africa at large to provide the distribution solution to transport our bread to all corners of Zimbabwe.

Since the official opening of the Regional Centre Southern Africa (RCSA) in 2016, ZIMOCO and its sister dealership, Southern Cross Motors, have been the exclusive general distributors of Daimler Truck Southern Africa (DTSA) commercial vehicles in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

With the success of the Baker’s Inn deal, Zimoco Commercial Vehicles will play a significant role in widening the company’s distribution network to the underserved areas of Zimbabwe. The new fleet will allow Baker’s Inn to grow this already impressive production from 450 000 loaves to 1 million loaves produced daily in the near future.

Bob Crossley, CEO ZIMOCO, says: “Any deal at the moment in Zimbabwe is a good deal, and we are pleased by the trust and confidence that Baker’s Inn has placed in us. We have been working on this deal for the past five years, and through the support of the FUSO Trucks team and Daimler Truck Southern Africa (DTSA) at large, we were able to bring this deal to fruition.

“We are honoured to celebrate this important milestone with Baker’s Inn; this is certainly a giant step in the expansion of their fleet. I am thrilled to say that our FUSO brand has a firm foothold in the market owing to its reputation for delivering ‘Simply Better Trucks’ and this handover renews confidence in the potential of Southern African markets.”

Baker’s Inn is one of the biggest specialists in freshly baked bread in Zimbabwe, and together with our exclusive and trusted partner, Zimoco Commercial Vehicles, we are delighted to take their business to greater heights,” concludes Michael Dietz, President and CEO of Daimler Truck Southern Africa.