SSI Schaefer provides innovative contribution to the sustainable supply of the city of the future

• Official Partner of the Consortium of the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai
• Vertical Farming Solution showcase in the Future City Lab

The SSI Schaefer Group, a German family-owned company with a history spanning more than 80 years and a leading international provider of modular warehousing and logistics solutions, will be demonstrating what the sustainable supply of food to an urbanized society can look like at Expo 2020 in Dubai, which started on October 1. As an official partner of the German Pavilion Consortium, SSI Schaefer will present an innovative vertical farming solution developed in cooperation with Infarm, the world’s fastest growing vertical farming company, in the City of the Future section of CAMPUS GERMANY. With its data-driven modular farming units, in which herbs and vegetables are grown under perfect conditions with 95% less water and land compared to conventional farming and without chemical pesticides, Infarm is building a global network of farms to grow and distribute fresh produce close to urban centers. Infarm’s vertical farming network already consists of more than 1400 farms in more than 50 cities worldwide.

Steffen Bersch, CEO of SSI Schaefer Group: "According to the United Nations forecast, around 80% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030. Together with the expected population growth and the increasing demand for food, it will be crucial to design the supply of the cities of the future in an integrative, safe and above all efficient and resource-saving way. Infarm’s Vertical Farming solution that we are presenting in the Future City Lab at the Expo, can be up to 400 times more efficient than conventional farming, measured in terms of the cultivated area. With this, the SSI Schaefer Group is consistently implementing its value proposition to drive its customers‘ sustainability globally with future-proof solutions."

Expo 2020 Dubai, the start of which has been postponed by one year due to the Corona pandemic, takes place from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, under the motto "Connecting minds, shaping the future." The World Expo site is located only about 15 minutes by car from the SSI Schaefer office in the Dubai Logistics City area, a hub for intralogistics solutions in the Middle East and Africa. Within the German Pavilion, SSI Schaefer is the only member of the intralogistics industry.

The German Pavilion, whose client is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, will be showcasing sustainability at the fair. The exhibits will be grouped into the thematic areas of energy, city of the future and biodiversity. The aim of CAMPUS GERMANY is to provide visitors with solutions for a more sustainable future in a vivid way with many interactive elements.

"How do we want to live in cities in the future? The Future City Lab in the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai answers this elementary question. In this Lab, our CAMPUS GERMANY takes visitors into the city of the future and shows, among other things, how food can be produced and made available sustainably in urban spaces," says Sebastian Rosito, Deputy Commissioner General and Director of the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Growing urbanization and the rapidly increasing importance of e-commerce lead to ever more complex requirements for SSI Schaefer’s customers. This is caused by increasing expectations from consumers for the individualization of products, same-day delivery and the highest service quality. This poses ever greater challenges for the warehousing and logistics of large retail chains and online platforms. Against this backdrop, SSI Schaefer sees itself in the role of "enabler", contributing to meeting the needs of customers more efficiently and sustainably with intelligent intralogistics solutions in the field of digitalization and automation.