Nichibo steps up to help deliver e-van fleet

This story first appeared in the August issue of EVTalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

All the hassles involved in importing Foodstuff’s e-van fleet from the United Kingdom were handled by Nichibo Japan.

Nichibo has been facilitating vehicle exports from Japan to 35 countries for more than 20 years.

So, with just a slight change of gear, it was able to supply Foodstuffs with 28 Nissan e-vans on order from the UK.

Nichibo sourced the vans, organised the deal, managed the shipping process, sorted the registration and took care of other tasks from signwriting to delivery.

“Foodstuffs saw Nichibo as an end-to-end solution to ensure the most streamlined procurement solution,” Nichibo New Zealand marketing manager Steve Vermeulen says.

“We worked closely with our key logistics and compliance partners to take any complexity out of the process for Foodstuffs.”

Nichibo New Zealand director Robert Young says the company endorses electric vehicles (EVs) and shares Foodstuffs’ passion for EV technology and its environmental benefits.

“With an abundance of clean energy production, EVs are an ideal solution for New Zealand and we’re proud to say imported models are enabling this transition to new technology,” Young says.
“Ahead of leadership in this space, however, we as a group also have set key sustainability objectives around our EV division.

“Nichibo has stringent policies around the battery health of the vehicles we import; we have identified some partners to assist in the end-of-life upcycling of the battery and we have set a target of zero batteries we provide ending up in landfill.”
The company’s involvement in the Foodstuffs project will total about seven months at its conclusion.

It is already working with other national fleets.