Industry

Environmental evidence for coffee competing in international markets

We structure coffee environmental data for buyers, differentiation, impact reduction and water management.

Industry context

Coffee is one of the commodities covered by the EUDR: every lot entering the EU must carry GPS coordinates of the plot and a statement of no deforestation after 2020. Studies also place most of the footprint between cultivation and processing — not ocean transport — so that is where buyers and roasters concentrate their data demands.

Pressures

What usually triggers the need

In order of priority, the pressures that lead this industry to look for environmental evidence

01
International buyers
Importers and roasters that make environmental data a condition of purchase.
02
Carbon footprint
Pressure to quantify and reduce farm, processing and transport emissions.
03
Water and traceability
High water use in processing and the need to trace every lot's origin.

Outcomes

What this industry needs to achieve

Answer requestsReply to buyer questionnaires with verifiable data, on time.
Compare processesMeasure washed, honey or natural to decide on impact and cost.
Reduce impactsSpot where to cut emissions and water without hurting cup quality.

Sector keys

What you should keep in mind

The standards, requirements and buyer demands that now set the environmental agenda for this sector

EUDR geolocation
Green coffee exported to the EU needs GPS coordinates for each plot and proof of no deforestation after 31 Dec 2020; the scope is expected to extend to derived products such as soluble coffee.
Processing water
Wet processing (fermentation and washing) is the main water-consumption and wastewater hotspot; an ISO 14046 water footprint documents both, and specialty buyers increasingly ask for it.
Emissions hotspot
For the carbon footprint (ISO 14067), farm and processing dominate the result far more than ocean transport, so that is where mitigation and data effort belong.
Coffee is not in CBAM
CBAM applies only to cement, steel, aluminium, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen; for coffee the binding EU lever is the EUDR, not a carbon border tariff.

Applicable services