- Representatives from the worlds of business, research and politics discuss the pressing challenges of our times
- The focus is on the three megatrends of healthy living, sustainable economic activity and digital sovereignty
- Partnerships and cooperations form the basis for Germany as a strong business location
- Courage and resolve are needed to progress toward a sovereign Europe
In view of geopolitical uncertainties and social polarization, the companies of Schwarz Group are convinced that the major challenges of the 21st century can only be mastered by acting together. Focusing on the three central megatrends of healthy living, sustainable economic activity and digital sovereignty, they invited representatives from the worlds of business, research, politics and the public sector to the Schwarz Ecosystem Summit in Berlin on September 25 and 26.
One highlight of the event was the political impulse given by Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz in his keynote speech, emphasizing: “It is the aim of the Federal Government that Germany remains a leading industrial nation in the 21st century. To achieve this, it takes more than just foresighted policies that set the course, forward-looking companies are also needed. Schwarz Group is exemplary in this regard. For instance, it is making intensive efforts to strengthen Germany’s technological sovereignty using its own financial resources. This is a prime example of responsible entrepreneurship in practice!”
“Germany as a strong business location needs companies that work together on innovative solutions. We are all faced with challenges that are so major that we can only overcome them together. This is how we create the basis for progressing toward a sovereign Europe with courage and resolve”, said Gerd Chrzanowski, General Partner Schwarz Group, stressing the meaning of partnerships and cooperations. “As companies of Schwarz Group, we firmly believe in Germany’s competitiveness. In the last ten years alone, we have invested over 30 billion euros here. And we are staying on this course with additional investments amounting to 3.7 billion euros in 2025.”
Healthy Living, Sustainable Economic Activity and Digital Sovereignty
As the fourth largest retail group in the world, the companies of Schwarz Group cover the entire value cycle with their unique ecosystem from production and retail to recycling and digitalization, and make use of this basis to develop solutions that drive the megatrends forward every day:
- Through their retail divisions Lidl and Kaufland, they make high quality food accessible to all, and with SchwarzProduktion, they focus on sustainable production to ensure that healthy living is affordable.
- Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division, offers companies, partners, and customers solutions in the areas of Cloud, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and Data, Communication and Workplace to ensure the highest possible degree of digital sovereignty.
- Sustainability and cost effectiveness go hand in hand at the companies of Schwarz Group. Alongside the environmental service provider PreZero, one example of this is the holistic circular economy strategy “REset Resources” that they are pursuing to systematically drive forward resource sovereignty. This ranges from designing products to align with circular economy principles up to the reintroduction of recyclables into local circular economies.
Thanks to this holistic approach, the companies of Schwarz Group are contributing to setting the course for a sustainable future – for current and future generations.
