The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is designed to minimise the EU’s contribution to global deforestation. To better understand this regulation, check out our previous blog posts on the key requirements of the EUDR and its implications for companies.
The EUDR targets commodities linked to deforestation during their production. These include soy, beef, palm oil, cocoa, and coffee—key drivers of land-use expansion, which remains the primary cause of global deforestation.
This article dives into the specifics of commodity compliance under the EUDR, focusing on the cocoa and coffee industries. It explores the unique challenges and opportunities these sectors face as they adapt to the new reporting standards.
Cocoa Industry Insights
The EU is one of the world’s largest consumers of cocoa, with around 60% of all cocoa crossing its customs borders—making traceability under EUDR a critical requirement. This regulation is expected to significantly impact the cocoa sector, particularly in West Africa, the largest cocoa-producing region. Cocoa, essential to tropical economies, requires equatorial climates to thrive, making the industry highly vulnerable to climate and regulatory changes.
The EU is also a major processor of cocoa. Consequently, even cocoa not destined for EU consumption may still need to comply with EUDR requirements if it passes through EU customs for processing. While the regulation’s full impact will become clearer with time, several challenges and opportunities are already evident:
Key Challenges in the Cocoa Sector
Ensuring sustainable production and supply chain practices
Managing production pressures due to increasing cocoa demand
Adapting to climate change, which affects supply and price stability
Opportunities for Growth
Growing demand for high-quality, traceable cocoa
Increased supply chain transparency, avoiding risks associated with human and environmental rights violations
Strengthened relationships with suppliers
Coffee Industry Insights
The coffee industry faces similar challenges under the EUDR. The regulation prioritizes transparency and traceability, prompting fundamental changes to supply chain structures and farming practices.
Around 75% of the world’s coffee supply comes from smallholder farmers, making traceability a particularly complex challenge. Collecting data from numerous actors across the supply chain is a significant logistical hurdle. The timely collection of geolocation data and compliance information is particularly pressing for smallholder-dominated supply chains.
Key Challenges in the Coffee Sector
Limited infrastructure and technology access for smallholder farmers
Collecting and verifying accurate geolocation and compliance data
Bridging gaps between buyer-focused compliance tools and supplier needs
Opportunities for Growth
Adoption of sustainable farming practices
Enhanced supply chain transparency and traceability
Strengthened market position through compliance with evolving EU standards
Bridging the Compliance Gap
One of the EUDR’s most significant challenges is ensuring suppliers—not just buyers—can meet compliance requirements. Many existing compliance practices and tools primarily focus on buyers, often neglecting the needs of suppliers. This can lead to reduced data accuracy, delays, and inefficiencies.
For industries like cocoa and coffee, empowering suppliers is essential for success. In supply chains dominated by smallholder farmers, solutions that prioritise supplier usability and streamline data collection are critical for achieving compliance and fostering sustainability.
A Partner in EUDR Compliance
Agriplace is uniquely positioned to address these challenges through its bottom-up approach to compliance. Unlike traditional tools that primarily cater to buyers, Agriplace is also designed to simplify processes for suppliers—particularly smallholder farmers. This supplier-first focus ensures that:
Compliance is more accessible: Smallholder farmers can efficiently meet EUDR requirements through intuitive tools and workflows.
Data accuracy improves: By enabling suppliers to input timely and reliable data in a simple manner and with reuse, Agriplace ensures buyers have access to actionable insights.
Collaboration drives success: Agriplace bridges the gap between suppliers and buyers, fostering transparency across the supply chain.
With features like automated notifications, geolocation-based risk assessments, and tailored document requirements, Agriplace empowers the cocoa and coffee industries to transform compliance from a challenge into an opportunity for growth.
The Future of EUDR Compliance
The EUDR brings significant benefits to both producers and consumers. For producers, it offers deeper insights into supply chains, reduces complexities, and opens new opportunities for high-quality, traceable commodities. For consumers, it ensures access to products that meet rigorous standards without contributing to deforestation.
With Agriplace, businesses can navigate these new regulations with confidence. By simplifying compliance for suppliers and ensuring robust data accuracy for buyers, Agriplace enables stakeholders to build transparent, sustainable supply chains that align with EUDR requirements.
Ready to learn more about how Agriplace can help with EUDR compliance?
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