Quality as a recipe for success.

A bakery with its own mill – run by the same family for more than 200 years. And that's something to be very proud of. At present, there are still three generations running the business. Senior manageress Maja Vielhaber is now over 90. After her husband passed away, she took over the bakery and mill business on her own and brought the company through the post-war period. She tells us that the key to success has always been quality. And this should always be seen as "a question of attitude". She looks out of the window and recalls a time when several Mercedes-Benz L 319 vans were parked in the yard. A model series which today symbolically represents the optimism and economic upturn of the 1950s. And in just the same way as the Vielhaber family has maintained their optimism, one of the L 319 vehicles has also continued its journey into the here and now.

The classic van is more than just a collector's item: the L 319 is still used for deliveries! And Maja Vielhaber's son Eberhard still drives it himself with a great sense of passion. When he turns the key, the sound of the engine recalls nostalgic memories: "I can still remember exactly how fascinated I was, sitting here as a young lad, riding along for deliveries". Design details like the luxurious door handles, the charismatically flowing front with its round headlamps or the elegant steering wheel have certainly left their mark on the businessman. As a young adult around 35 years ago, Eberhard Vielhaber took over the reigns of the bakery business. At the time, following on from the L 319, Mercedes-Benz Vans expanded its portfolio with yet another highlight: the T1 van. Build between 1977 and 1995 in Bremen, the so-called "Bremer" van was to be the birth of a new age. For the Vielhaber family too.

Eberhard Vielhaber took an unconventional path. In times of cheap, mass-produced baked goods, he didn't opt for supplying supermarket chains, rather he chose to favour quality and hand-crafted products. Plus, he also sought to expand the business by opening their own sales outlets. And to enable this, he needed new vehicles. Once again, the entrepreneur put his faith in Mercedes-Benz Vans and acquired first-generation Sprinter vans. Today, the family-run business uses a fleet of Mercedes-Benz Vans to deliver to 26 outlets, with more in the pipeline. To deliver the bread-based products, the company meanwhile also has six Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans of the latest generation, equipped with tailored bodies and comfortable equipment. In terms of safety, the Sprinter vans are perfectly equipped with such things as cruise control, a 360° reversing camera, Active Lane Keeping Assist, Highbeam Assist and Active Brake Assist.

The next one in this dynasty of bakers? Eberhard Vielhaber's daughter Elisabeth. Her vision: trust in traditional practices, all whilst adding new impulses. The increased use of raw materials sourced within the region and the use of the company's own mill will be combined with digitalisation and marketing via social media platforms. This is how she intends to reach new customers and arouse interest in hand-crafted baking among a younger target group.
The story of success surrounding the Vielhaber family-run business makes it clear that even traditional companies with a proven product range can keep up with the times and make their mark on the market. At the end of the day, what counts is quality. And that is also "a question of attitude".