Wingcopter begins grocery drone delivery in Germany

Drone delivery company Wingcopter has started a pilot project that would see drones delivering everyday goods for the first time in Germany.

Residents in remote districts of Michelstadt, Hesse, can now get non-perishable milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, canned food, and many other non-refrigerated products delivered via drones at a time of their choosing. It’s an important development because many smaller stores have disappeared in rural areas in recent years, forcing residents to drive more than 10 km on each side to get even the most basic of goods.

The project, launched under the name “LieferMichel,” is being run in collaboration with the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt UAS). It is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV).

Wingcopter explains that drone deliveries will help to sustainably improve local supply in remote areas. Basically, the orders will be flown by Wingcopter to pre-determined landing points outside of villages, and from there, goods will be transported to the end customers by electric cargo bike.

Frankfurt UAS will evaluate the service from an economic and ecological point of view. At the same time, mobile communications company Vodafone will provide the necessary infrastructure so that the Wingcopter drones have a secure and stable connection to the ground station throughout the flight.

Explaining that the project will initially run until the end of 2023 and will be continued if it proves successful, Tom Plümmer, CEO of Wingcopter, says, “Our biggest goal is to gain experience and evaluate, together with the residents, an environmentally friendly and efficient service that creates real added value for the population in rural areas.”

Prof. Dr. Kai-Oliver Schocke, director of the Research Lab for Urban Transport (ReLUT) at Frankfurt UAS, adds, “We believe that a drone-based delivery service in rural areas can be a win-win situation: Residents benefit from better supply options, retailers can increase their customer catchment area without having to set up delivery services themselves. We also expect ecological benefits, as trips for smaller errands, in particular, can be substituted in this way.”

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