As the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) comes into force, everyone in the coffee industry—from smallholder farmers to global traders—must meet legal requirements to prove their products are deforestation-free. This article gives a straightforward overview to help coffee stakeholders understand what’s expected. It includes coffee-specific insights and practical steps to prepare for EUDR compliance.
Deforestation-free coffee
Coffee is one of the commodities covered by the EUDR because of its strong link to deforestation—often described as “embodied deforestation”—particularly in tropical regions. It is estimated that the EU accounts for 30–40% of coffee-related embodied deforestation. That’s a higher share than for many other EUDR-regulated commodities.
The EU’s coffee mandate is a crucial move towards more sustainable trade. It requires operators to trace their supply chains and prove that the coffee they trade has not been grown on recently deforested land. The goal: protect biodiversity, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and support smallholder livelihoods in coffee-producing countries.
This guide breaks down why the EUDR matters for coffee, and outlines the key steps you need to take to stay compliant.
1. What is the EUDR regulation for coffee?
The EUDR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115) builds on earlier legislation such as the EU Timber Regulation but goes much further. It broadens the scope to cover a wider range of “relevant commodities”, including coffee.
Under the EUDR, any commodity or product entering or leaving the EU must be deforestation-free. It must also comply with all local laws in its country of origin.
Deforestation-free requirement
Coffee must come from land free of deforestation since 31 December 2020. Operators and traders must provide precise geolocation data of the coffee plots to prove no deforestation has occurred after that date.
Mandatory due diligence
Companies—referred to as “operators” or “traders” depending on their role—must carry out due diligence. They must then submit a due diligence statement to the EU’s information system before placing coffee products on the EU market or exporting them from it.
Traceability to farm-level
Under the EUDR, every coffee batch must be traceable to its exact farm location—either coordinates or a mapped polygon. This goes beyond voluntary certification schemes. Agroforestry coffee planted before 2021 can still meet EUDR requirements, as long as verified data proves no protected forest was cleared.
2. Why coffee is included in the EUDR
Research by Wageningen Economic Research shows that coffee significantly contributes to global deforestation. Enough for the EU to classify it among the top commodities linked to forest loss.
Smallholder farmers grow around 60% of the world’s coffee, typically on plots smaller than 0.5 hectares. While many cultivate coffee under shade trees, the expansion of coffee farms into pristine or regenerating forests still drives deforestation. Even indirect pressures—such as increased demand for land—can shift deforestation to other areas.
Although coffee may account for around 7% of EU-driven deforestation from agricultural commodities, its impact remains substantial. The EUDR’s coffee-specific guidelines aim to reduce this footprint. Tackling even a fraction of the problem can yield meaningful gains for climate action, biodiversity, and the long-term resilience of smallholder farmers.
3. Key challenges in EUDR coffee compliance
Data quality
Accurate farm mapping and geolocation remain a challenge in many producing regions. Meridia’s desk research shows that about 12% of farm polygons contain errors. Examples include overlapping boundaries or incorrect coordinates. These issues often lead to instant rejection when submitting due diligence statements.
Legality and land rights
The EUDR requires coffee to comply with local laws, including land tenure regulations and human rights standards. Farms located in protected areas or overlapping Indigenous territories carry significant legal risks.
Read: Navigating EUDR compliance: addressing data quality, legality, and deforestation challenges
Deforestation false positives
Timber plantations near coffee-growing areas can sometimes lead to false positives in deforestation assessments. These plantations should be classified separately from coffee crops, but they are often included in the same polygons due to their proximity. Timber trees are intentionally planted to provide shade for coffee plants, enhancing bean quality, flavour, and sometimes even yield. While these false positives are not directly related to coffee cultivation, they result from imprecise classification. This issue also occurs in purely coffee-designated polygons, particularly in agroforestry systems.
Supply chain complexity
Blending and mixing are routine in the coffee supply chain. When roasters or exporters combine coffee from multiple small producers, they must trace each lot accurately. This is to avoid unintentionally including coffee linked to deforestation.
4. Step-by-step approach to EUDR-ready coffee
Step 1: Map your supply chain
Identify every supplier in your network—from cooperatives to clusters of smallholders—right down to individual farms. Collect precise geolocation data: use point coordinates for plots under 4 hectares and polygon boundaries for larger ones. This lets you accurately locate where your coffee is grown.
Step 2: Implement a due diligence system
Gather key evidence such as farm boundaries, deforestation monitoring data, and proof of compliance with local laws. Assess the risk using tools like deforestation monitoring platforms (e.g. FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment) and local reference maps. Voluntary certifications like Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance may support your efforts, but they don’t replace mandatory checks under the EUDR.
Step 3: Conduct risk mitigation
If you find coffee linked to recent deforestation or unclear land tenure, separate it immediately. Exclude or reclassify high-risk lots until you complete further verification. Some suppliers may need training or financial support to become compliant—factor this into your risk mitigation plan.
Step 4: Submit due diligence statements
Once you’ve reduced the risk to “negligible,” submit a due diligence statement. Include commodity details, geolocation data, and a formal declaration of compliance. Upload this to the EU’s official information system. You will receive a unique reference number to use in customs declarations.
Read: How to complete EUDR due diligence statement?
Step 5: Maintain ongoing monitoring
EUDR compliance isn’t a one-off task. Maintain it through satellite monitoring, field audits, and regular updates from suppliers. Encourage farmers to improve over time—adopting agroforestry, mapping boundaries, and other practices that can reduce future compliance costs.
However, compliance alone isn’t enough. Your processes could still face scrutiny in the form of substantiated concerns.
Read: EUDR substantiated concerns: A compliance risk companies can’t ignore
5. Coffee-specific strategies and best practices
Engage smallholders early
Smallholders play a crucial role. Yet farmers often face financial and technical hurdles, hindering mapping and legal compliance. Engage them early to avoid delays and rework.
Tools like farmer data platforms can store verified polygon data and share it with multiple buyers. This eliminates the need for repeated surveys.
Leverage local experts
Field-based verification and legal consultancy in origin countries are invaluable, particularly if local definitions of “forest” differ from EUDR definitions. Some user-provided sources highlight that local laws and Indigenous rights can vary significantly by region.
Invest in digital traceability
Digital solutions like Meridia Verify can verify your data by checking data quality, deforestation risks and legality issues. These platforms reduce staff workload, speed up data correction, and present documentation in an EUDR-friendly format.
6. Turning compliance into an opportunity
The EUDR might feel like a burden, but it gives coffee companies a real opportunity to lead on sustainability. It can strengthen your brand reputation and unlock new market opportunities. Consumers increasingly demand ethical, traceable, and climate-friendly coffee, with clear, forest-friendly credentials.
By weaving EUDR compliance into your brand story, you show a genuine, verifiable commitment to forest conservation. This can potentially also justify premium pricing.
Conclusion
The EUDR puts coffee in the spotlight. Exporters, traders, and roasters must now prove their beans meet strict environmental and legal standards.
This is no small task. Especially for smallholders at origin. However, it's a necessary step to protect tropical forests and promote more responsible trade.
With verified geolocation, robust data management, legality proof, and deforestation risk assessments, coffee companies can get fully EUDR-ready.
Compliance isn’t just a box to tick. It’s a chance to build transparency, deepen farmer relationships, and strengthen the entire supply chain.
Industry example Volcafe
In its preparations to ensure compliance with the EUDR, Volcafe’s priority was ensuring that this new requirement would be transparent for the coffee farmers and as smooth as possible for its field team. They chose Meridia Verify as their solution to help them get compliance-ready. Read more about Volcafe’s challenges and how Meridia supports them.
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