Two brand-new Isuzu Grafter Jiffy Banquet 3.5 tonne rigids are about to go into service for the NAAFI, who provide catering, retail & leisure facilities to the British Armed Forces, delivering a much needed taste of home to service personnel and their families around the world.
These new Isuzu Grafter Jiffy Banquets will be providing mobile and off-site catering services to military service staff in both Germany and the Falkland Islands. Sporting a brand-new design of wrap on both the cab and body, the trucks are highly visible, with the new livery reflecting the multi-service capabilities of the NAAFI.
Based on the Isuzu Grafter Green N35.125 3.5t tonne rigid chassis, the new NAAFI Isuzus feature an iconic Jiffy Trucks body that has all the usual catering and food delivery features, including heated areas, as well as chilled and ambient, all of which are designed for maximum retail impact, whilst keeping the produce as fresh as possible. The trucks also have an audible advanced notice tannoy system, which plays pre-programmed music as it arrives on site, forewarning customers of its arrival.
One of the new Isuzu Grafters will be based at the Normandy training barracks in Sennelager, near Paderborn, Germany, and is replacing an existing delivery truck. This vehicle will be delivering hot and cold food and drinks on established routes around the barracks, providing this service mainly to British Army personnel, as well as to overseas military staff such as NATO who use the barracks for regular training programmes.
The second Isuzu Grafter is making the long journey down to the Falkland Islands, where it will be working in the Mount Pleasant area near Port Stanley. Here the Isuzu will be delivering hot and cold food and drinks around the huge military compound at Mount Pleasant, as well as to the remote ranges where soldiers conduct off-site training exercises. This is the first vehicle of this type to be deployed by the NAAFI out in the Falklands for a number of years.
The Isuzu Grafter based in Germany will go into service during the first week of January, whilst the Isuzu that is being transported to the Falkland Islands will be operational by mid-February, following a 28 day sea journey to the South Atlantic.
“This type of delivery vehicle covers all aspects of food and drink with its heat and chill capacity. We are really pleased with the payload from the Isuzu Grafter Jiffy Banquet, which is excellent and allows us to carry much more on one vehicle than before, making the delivery operation far more efficient”, said Brian Bell, Contracts Manager, NAAFI.
Typically, the Isuzu Grafter Jiffy Banquets will work on established routes at both locations, handling two delivery routes per day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They will be operating on a one driver per vehicle basis, up to 6 days a week, with an operational life anticipated to be at least seven years.
“Apart from the impressive payload potential, we have had to make specification changes to the Isuzu Grafter that is working in the Falklands. We have fitted all-climate, all-weather tyres to the truck as it will be working on many difficult off-road routes throughout the islands, as well as working in severe minus temperatures for weeks during the harsh winter climate down there,” commented Brian Bell.
“2018 has seen a tremendous increase in the number of organisations and companies who have added the Isuzu Grafter Jiffy Banquet to their fleets, since it was first launched earlier in the year. We are extremely proud to be supplying these two new Grafters to the NAAFI for such an important job for our Armed Forces around the world,” said Jon Corcoran, Fleet Sales Manager, Isuzu Truck UK.
Further information about the range of Isuzu Grafter 3.5tonne rigids can be viewed here
Isuzu Truck UK Ltd
Isuzu House, 164 Great North Road, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL9 5JN
Tel: 01707 282930
Details of the new Isuzu Grafter Jiffy Banquet can be viewed here
Jiffy Trucks Ltd, 26 Jubilee Way, Shipley, West Yorkshire, Bradford, BD18 1QG
Phone: 01274 596000