The European Council raised concerns surrounding the no risk amendment to the EUDR, passed by the European Parliament in a vote on 14 November. The controversial amendment, which was provisionally dropped by the European leaders on 3 December, was proposed by the European People’s Party (EPP) at the time of the vote.

German MEP, Christine Schneider of the EPP, withdrew the party’s proposal to create the no risk status category under the EUDR on 2 December. “We promised and we have delivered. This postponement means businesses, foresters, farmers and authorities will have an additional year to prepare,” she said in a statement, adding, “An impact assessment and further simplification is to follow in the review stage for the low risk countries or regions providing countries with an incentive to improve their forest conservation practices.”

The EPP’s withdrawal follows the European Parliament’s vote to delay the EUDR by 12 months, which remains in effect. Companies will have one more year to adapt to new EU rules to prevent deforestation, which will ban the sale of products sourced from deforested land in the EU. A statement released by the European Parliament announced that on Tuesday evening (2 December), negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement to postpone the application of the new rules. Large operators and traders will now have to respect the obligations of this regulation as of 30 December 2025, and micro- and small enterprises from 30 June 2026. This additional time is intended to help companies around the world implement the rules more smoothly from the beginning, without undermining the objectives of the law.

The Commission proposed postponing the application date of the deforestation regulation by one year in response to concerns raised by EU member states, non-EU countries, traders and operators that they would not be able to fully comply with the rules if applied from the end of 2024.

Following requests from Parliament, The Commission committed to continue easing the burden on businesses by reducing administrative requirements and eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic burdens

In terms of next steps, the vote on the informal agreement between the co-legislators will be added to the agenda of Parliament’s next plenary session (16-19 December). In order for the postponement to enter into force, the agreed text has to be endorsed by both Parliament and Council and published in the EU Official Journal before the end of the year. — Vanessa L Facenda

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The declaration, signed by Melissa Duncan, executive director of Fairtrade International, and Jeroen Douglas, the Director General of ICA, has solidified the organisations’ commitment to work together to advance the principles of democracy, empowerment, economic prosperity and distribution, and the convergence of economic, social, and environmental components of development.

The announcement was made during ICA’s General Assembly held in New Delhi, India this week. Tone Cecilie Faugli, the CEO of Fairtrade Norway, together with Fairtrade Network of Asia & Pacific Producers CEO Erwin Novianto and Fairtrade certified cooperatives are participating in the event.

“We’re excited to launch this partnership with ICA as we embark on this shared opportunity to leverage our strengths and work together to build strong cooperatives that achieve better, fairer, and more dignified labour relations. Successful cooperatives are the lifeblood of Fairtrade and essential for sustainable global trade,” said Melissa Duncan, Fairtrade’s Executive Director.

“This declaration cements our joint efforts towards creating impactful change for cooperatives worldwide,” said Jeroen Douglas, Director General of ICA. “Together, ICA and Fairtrade International will drive forward initiatives that support cooperatives in their sustainable business case though fair pricing. Only a price tag on fair wages, clean water, gender inclusion and the pure air we breathe will transform our economy to the needs of communities.”

Fairtrade International and ICA, both EU Financial Framework Partnership Agencies, have had fruitful collaboration in the past on policy influencing, evidence gathering research, and the sharing of best practices focusing on the management of sustainable supply chains and people-centred business models. Advocacy work on cooperatives’ priorities include the EU Deforestation Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence directive. ICA and Fairtrade are also both members of the EU’s Global Gateway Dialogue Platform.

The partnership agreement will now facilitate closer co-operation between ICA and Fairtrade International on emerging areas of expertise needed, such as cooperative legal frameworks, agroecology, climate change, youth inclusion, gender equality, among others. It will contribute to strengthen both organisations’ work on promoting inclusive and sustainable cooperatives and their communities through wealth creation and redistribution, democracy, empowerment. It will also advance efforts towards an ever-increasing convergence between the economic, social, and environmental components of development.

Under the flagship of the UN International Year of Cooperatives, this partnership is expected to enable more cooperatives and their members to realise sustainable livelihoods, fulfil their potential, and decide on their future, given the growing risks and challenges they face.

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Following a vote on 14 November in Brussels, Belgium, the European Parliament confirmed to delay implementing the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) –a plan that was already endorsed by the Council of Ministers – until December 2025.

Adopted on 19 April 2023 and initially due to be enforced on 30 December 2024, the EUDR proposes to ban the export of products associated with deforestation, such as coffee beans, cocoa beans, soya, cattle, rubber, palm oil, and wood. The law also applies to European farmers.

Third countries, member states, operators and traders will have more time to prepare for the due diligence obligations imposed by the EUDR. Large operators and traders would have to adhere to the requirements stemming from the EUDR as of 30 December 2025, whereas micro- and small enterprises would have until 30 June 2026. In a statement released by the European Parliament, “this additional time would help operators around the world to implement the rules smoothly from the start without undermining the objectives of the law.”

Parliament also adopted other amendments proposed by the political groups such as the European People’s Party (EPP), including the creation of a new category of countries posing “no risk” on deforestation in addition to the existing three categories of “low”, “standard” and “high” risk. Countries classified as “no risk”, defined as countries with stable or increasing forest area development, would face significantly less stringent requirements as there is a negligible or non-existent risk of deforestation. The Commission will have to finalise a country-benchmarking system by 30 June 2025.

Multiple proponents of the EUDR have called out the move. In a statement on LinkedIn, Rainforest Alliance said the no-risk category would be “a death sentence to the EUDR.”

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued a statement saying, “The European Parliament, driven by the European People’s Party (EPP), voted for amendments to substantially weaken the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) de facto deregulating and undermining one of the EU’s landmark environmental laws. By introducing a category of “no risk” countries, the EPP and its allies have effectively voted to enable further forest destruction both within and outside of Europe. The move undermines the efforts of forward-thinking companies that have invested in deforestation-free supply chains to comply with EUDR requirements in time for its application on 30 December 2024.”

Parliament is now referring this file back to committee for interinstitutional negotiations. In order for these changes to enter into force, the agreed text will have to be endorsed by both Council and Parliament and published in the EU Official Journal.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 420 million hectares of forest – an area larger than the EU – were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020. EU consumption represents around 10% of global deforestation. Palm oil and soya beans account for more than two-thirds of this. — Vanessa L Facenda

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After hitting a 50-year low in production in 2021/22,Costa Rica’s coffee output has been rebounding. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service estimates total production of approximately 1.44 million 60-kilogram bags of green coffee in 2023/24, which is up over 15 percent from two years ago. This increase is attributed to better plant management, positive initial flowering, and stabilised fertiliser costs.

Costa Rican producers have been actively innovating for the global specialty coffee market. For example, producers are responding to a trend towards increased product differentiation through microlots, which allow them to capture higher sales prices. The number
of coffee mills has increased from 184 in 2011/12 to 304 in 2021/22,with many new micro-mills
servicing small groups of farms.

Despite production increases, the number of coffee growers in Costa Rica continues to decline. As of 2021/22 (the most recent dataset), there were 26,704 farmers, down nearly 50 percent from 10 years earlier. Factors contributing to this decline include long periods of low coffee prices, aging farmers, and high land prices near urban areas.

The industry faces ongoing challenges with labour supply, particularly for harvesting. Most of the coffee harvest depends on large numbers of temporary foreign workers from Nicaragua and Panama. There have been concerns about changing immigration flows affecting labour availability.

Costa Rica’s economy is increasingly shifting towards services, with the tourism, pharmaceutical, and IT sectors growing rapidly. This economic diversification is providing more attractive employment options for the children of coffee farmers, potentially further impacting the future labour supply for coffee production.

The local Costa Rican currency’s depreciation has also negatively impacted the coffee industry.
The exchange rate has reached its lowest point in 14 years, reducing the competitiveness of Costa
Rican coffee on the international market and causing significant financial losses for exporters and mills.

Improving Resilience
Despite challenges, Costa Rica maintains its reputation for high-quality coffee. The country continues to participate in prestigious events like the Cup of Excellence, with some producers making it to the 2023 finals.

Climate change is threatening coffee-growing areas in Costa Rica, specifically the Coto Brus region. By 2050, absent adaptation measures, experts at the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington, DC maintain that climate change “will reduce the global areas suitable for growing coffee by about 50 percent.” An WRI study outlined key findings from this region, including some of the main challenges facing the coffee sector. It also examined existing factors that present opportunities to enhance climate resilience. The study recommends actions that can be taken to improve the sector’s climate resilience and long-term sustainability.
During the course of their research, the WRI’s team of researchers conducted a literature review, interviews, a workshop and field visits with coffee farmers, government ministries, funders, and other stakeholders.
Despite the study’s local focus, the lessons and experiences shared are relevant for other coffee-growing regions and countries: Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Uganda, among others. These are the places where coffee producers are facing some of the harshest the effects of climate
change, and the researchers hope that it will serve as a tool and inspiration for accelerating adaptation action.

Despite the benefits of medium- and long term planning to accomplish the large-scale transformative changes, WRI’s experts concluded that the coffee sector will need to adapt to intensifying climate impacts. However, they found that most producers are integrating smaller, short-term, incremental adjustments that might not be sufficient in the long term.

WRI developed a program to assist Costa Rica’s government as it mapped out short-term, medium-term, and long-term adaptation pathways that are inclusive, equitable, and participatory. WRI developed a framework which underscores that, in some situations and locations, incremental adaptation measures will prove insufficient in the years to come to fully reduce growing risks from climate change impacts. In these situations, more fundamental, or transformative, changes – which may entail creating pathways toward new systems more suitable for changing climate conditions – will be needed to maintain the communities’ livelihoods in the long term. Such changes will often include shifting the mix of crops grown
and livestock raised in particular areas, employing substantially new technology at broad scale, and/or altering the production landscape from one type to another. The first year of WRI’s technical assistance
effort focused on stakeholder engagement, research, and in-country discussions via workshops to introduce the concept of transformative adaptation and establish a dialogue on climate adaptation, vulnerabilities, and impacts. These discussions were held with coffee producers, cooperatives, ministry
officials, research organisations, financing entities, and the private sector, among others.

Findings from these conversations are being used to inform the drafting of a national coffee strategy.
The focus of the second year of the project focused on the lessons learned from the coffee growing region of Coto Brus to better inform, guide, and finance climate resilience efforts for these communities, while extracting insights for other coffee-growing regions in the country.

Reviving Production in Coto Brus

The Coto Brus district, located in the Brunca region, is one of the country’s eight coffee growing areas identified by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Instituto del Café de Costa Rica; ICAFE) and one of the smallest contributors to national production. Coto Brus was chosen by government counterparts in response to smallholder farmers’ requests for support and because this area has been experiencing a rapid decline in coffee production and is highly vulnerable to climate change. In the second year,
WRI conducted literature reviews, expert interviews, farm visits, and a full-day workshop in Coto Brus with key stakeholders.

By 2050,absent adaptation measures, up to half of the areas currently suitable for coffee cultivation in Coto Brus is predicted to become unsuitable across both low and high emissions
pathways scenarios. (For more details, consult the various research reports and studies published by Oriana Ovalle Rivera of the CATIE – Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza – which is located in Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica.) Central areas are projected to be more adversely affected while a few locations are projected to see an increase in suitability.

Efforts to increase Coto Brus coffee farmers’ resilience by addressing the most immediate climate change impacts have begun. However, few farmers incorporate adaptation into their planning and huge implementation gaps persist, despite a broad awareness of sustainable practices. According to interviewees, some farmers are further behind than others — especially smallholders with more limited
resources. Despite the benefits of medium-term and longer-term planning to accomplish the large
scale transformative changes the coffee sector will need to adapt to intensifying climate impacts, most producers and the sector are integrating smaller, shorter-term, incremental adjustments that might not be sufficient in the longer-term.

WRI’s study identified key recommendations to increase the short-term, medium-term, and long-term climate resilience of the coffee sector. The recommendations include:
• Promote adaptation options identified by local stakeholders, provide regular technical follow up, and support farmers in exploring additional medium-term and longer-term measures.
• Establish baselines and monitor the impacts of adaptation measures. Building the evidence of farms’ vulnerabilities while tracking the results of adaptation efforts can help maximise the allocation of limited resources over the short, medium, and long terms and inform where and when transformative pathways will be needed. Transformative pathways are coordinated sequences of short to-long-term actions or projects intended to prepare agricultural systems for unprecedented climate conditions.
• Map when and where coffee is likely to lose viability in the coming decades and explore transformative and equitable pathways toward climate resilience, with stakeholder participation (particularly relevant for MAG, ICAFE, and MINAE). At-risk farmers should be supported to experiment with different crops,
technologies, and even livelihoods like eco tourism that will serve them better over the longer term.
• Reinforce existing institutions and enabling factors to increase the uptake of adaptation measures and build greater resilience in Coto Brus. These include strengthening farmer associations and cooperatives, as well as farmer-to-farmer learning; promoting more strategic cross-sectoral alliances; and strengthening support for programs focused on sustainable practices.
• Develop farmer-tailored skills trainings and guidance to build farmers’ capacities to manage costs and access credit and financing, so they can more easily invest in adaptation measures.
• Create open communication channels within public and private entities to bridge crucial information flow gaps around climate risks, existing vulnerabilities, and options to support the implementation of adaptationmeasures. Providing producers with clear, complete, and practical information on different financing options is also essential.

• Gordon Feller, based in California, travels the world reporting about innovations that can change our economies and strengthen small enterprises. Since 1980 he’s been publishing
  reports and magazine articles about coffee/tea innovations on five continents. He is both an ABE Fellow – Japan Fdn and Global Fellow – The Smithsonian

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The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has approved Finlays’ near and long-term science-based emissions reductions targets, including its net-zero science-based target by 2040. This ensures Finlays’ emission reduction targets are in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°, helping prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

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The International Coffee Convention (ICC) was established in 2023 to address the pressing issues facing the coffee industry. The inaugural ICC identified these challenges and highlighted the opportunities within them, setting the stage for actionable solutions. While there were originally no plans to hold a second ICC so soon after the first, Dr Steffen Schwarz, founder of the ICC, said the overwhelming response and the need for continuity in tackling these challenges led to the organisation of the second ICC in 2024.

The ICC 2024 program, the theme of which is ‘Coffee in Transition’, is designed to tackle pressing issues in the coffee industry. Key sessions include:
1. Future Landscape of Multiple Coffee Species: Addressing species such as Robusta, Racemosa, and Stenophylla within the context of the Nagoya Protocol.
2. Land Use and Coffee Farming Systems: Exploring deforestation policies and innovations in coffee fermentation and processing technologies.
3. Advancements in Coffee Preparation and Business: Covering the journey from roasting to creating the perfect café crème.
4. Sustainable Utilisation of Coffee By-Products: Discussing challenges and opportunities in utilising coffee by-products sustainably.
5. Coffee and Health: Examining the nutritional impacts, benefits, and substantiating health claims of coffee.

The event will also include unique cupping sessions to explore rare coffee species:
• Rare Species Cup tasting
• Liberica Cup tasting

Additionally, there will be a live research project on sensory coffee preference testing, providing attendees with hands-on experience in evaluating coffee maturity and freshness. Among the key scientific presentations, the ICC will showcase a groundbreaking study on the impact of post-roast maturation on the sensory experience of coffee, offering new insights into how aging affects coffee flavour and quality.

The Kaldi Awards, which celebrate significant advancements and research in the coffee industry, will be presented during the convention, recognising outstanding contributions in various categories such as lifetime achievement, green coffee cultivation and processing, roasting, and preparation.

The International Coffee Convention is designed to be an unparalleled gathering for ‘anyone passionate about coffee’ — from farmers and roasters to traders and researchers. By fostering collaboration and sharing cutting-edge research, the convention aims to drive the industry towards a sustainable and innovative future.

For the full programme, visit: coffee-convention.com/Program/.

For more information and to register for the event, please visit: International Coffee Convention.

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illycaffè has long been committed to mitigating the effects of climate change throughout the entire supply chain, starting with coffee cultivation, for which it promotes the sustainable model of regenerative agriculture. This model allows for proper nourishment of the plants, naturally regenerating the soil, and thus reducing CO2 emissions. Additionally, this new type of cultivation allows for an improvement in the health of the ecosystem thanks to the increased biodiversity of the species used for ground cover and soil dynamics. In the Cerrado Mineiro region, where the company has been working hand in hand with local producers for over thirty years, the Arabica Selection Brazil coffee has been grown by applying the best regenerative practices certified regenagri.

“The Arabica Selection Brazil Cerrado Mineiro is the result of the relationship we have built over the years with coffee producers and the Federation of Producers of Cerrado Mineiro. We have shared the urgency of finding a solution to the effects of climate change,” comments Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè. “Aware that this challenge can only be overcome by joining forces, we have identified the best techniques for ecosystem adaptation, mitigation, and regeneration, producing the first 100% Arabica coffee sourced from certified regenerative agriculture, as certified by regenagri.”

The reduction of natural resource exploitation, soil regeneration, and the preservation of biodiversity and future land productivity are some of the results achieved through the application of regenerative agronomic practices selected by illycaffè. This model shifts the focus from the plant to the soil, offering the best natural solutions to nourish, strengthen, and make it fertile and resilient to external threats.

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There are, however, some extensions into the subtropics and some tea gardens even pushing further into the temperate climate zone, such as the hilly area around Rize in Turkey; the prefecture of Saitama, north of Tokyo, in Japan; the Black Sea slopes of Georgia; the Azore Islands as Portugal’s outpost in the Atlantic; and also the recently developed tea estates in continental Europe and in the UK.

In the ancient and long-established tea producing countries like China, Laos, and Burma, where tea has been grown for millenaries, and for centuries in Japan, Korea, India, and for decades in East-Africa, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, etc, the tea gardens were set up in areas that were well-suited for weather patterns, which allowed them to thrive after a period of rest and replenishment or after the rains. Although unforeseen weather events did occasionally occur, these remained exceptional and were usually compensated for by improved harvesting in the weeks after.

In recent and untraditional locations, the tea bush varieties that prosper have been able to adjust their agricultural requirements to the specific local climate and topography, and hence, gradually fit into growing conditions that allow to develop a valid tea economy, thus demonstrating proudly how flexible and resilient tea can be as a pioneer crop.

The growing awareness about the green house effect, the temperature calculations creating the fear of global warming, and the ever-increasing frequency of formerly unusual weather incidents, like torrential rains, sudden cold spells, long dry spells, delayed monsoon rains, and warm winters etc, have generated a need for stock taking. This first step intends to investigate ways and means to adapt, cope and respond to the adverse effects of climate change. Whilst tea farmers are used to adjusting their
ways every year according to the ups and downs of the weather, these fluctuations have become
more erratic, more intense and more frequent recently, generating concern about the short term outlook, fearing that the traditional seasonal patterns will no longer occur in a reliable way.

Considering Possible Adjustments

Since the concerns are caused by the manifold incidents of abnormal weather due to climate changes, the impacts of such unorthodox weather on tea cultivation are under close scrutiny. Whilst these meteorological incidents vary greatly from one tea region to another, they all result in adverse effects on volume and quality, and of course, on producer income and livelihood, which is particularly dramatic in
smallholder villages, where tea is often the main cash crop, namely in China, India, Kenya, and Indonesia, but also in other countries.

Professor Han Wenyan, from the Chinese Tea Research Institute in Hangzhou, underlines that the high temperatures and long-lasting draughts during the summer may finally result in a shifting of the southern tea growing areas to higher altitudes and higher latitudes, moving towards the subtropical climate zone. China is furthermore actively developing more heat resistant cultivars. The torrential rains that hit Assam in 2022 produced such an intense proliferation of pests attacking the leaves, that the bushes were severely damaged down to root systems, which most adversely affected the harvest. In Kenya’s high altitude tea-growing areas, the occurrence of unusual and long lasting cold spells, that resulted in frostbite and made the leaves unfit for harvesting, spurred research into creating more resilient and cold
resistant varietals.

Florent Weugue, a French premium tea retailer, who operates in Tokyo, Japan, underlines that warmish winters are one of the major problems in Japan: the Chinese tea varietals, which are grown here need four cold months of dormancy, which allow them to replenish their stock of nutrients from the soil, in order to flush with the arrival of warmer temperatures in the spring. Without a true cold season this does not happen and the result is that the bushes produce less buds and the leaves are lacking flavour intensity, which becomes highly detrimental to harvesting volume and to cup quality.

If there is enough space available, moving the tea fields higher up or further north is an option. Without available space, it’s the bush that needs to be adapted in order to thrive in hotter or colder, rainier or dryer climate by being more resilient. Both approaches need long term planning and in-depth research,
which will take several years before yielding any tangible results, bearing in mind the costs as a heavy financial burden. Many believe that such huge modifications and transfers should be taken to a dedicated international platform for sharing information and also obtain some government support in order to be processed successfully.

In the meantime, there are some practical and more readily available technical means, like more irrigation in dry areas, more shading in hot areas, setting up fans in the fields to break frost, more terracing to evacuate heavy rains, better weed control to keep away nasty insects, more fertilising to give the bush resistance, tight pruning to stimulate budding, more pest control to avoid massive infestation, adjusted picking rounds to preserve budding capacity.

All these aforementioned quoted measures can be carried out and be applied relatively rapidly, yet at significant costs and with the help of an available workforce. However, for many smallholders, the money and labour will require coordination and financial support from national authorities like Tea Boards or
Ministries of Agriculture.

And Still There is a Global Oversupply

All international reports state that there is a continued status of global oversupply, with tea consumption lagging behind. Although hampered by adverse climate incidents, international freight problems, trade
disruptions due to sanctions and political conflicts, ever-increasing costs of fertilisers and serious labour shortage, the annual world production of tea keeps increasing year on year. The market is dominated by China – the leading producer – supplying 49 percent of the world’s teas, and the other globally traded teas represent less than 30 percent of the world’s tea output. Although there is awareness about the
adverse impact of climate change in most national markets, there is not yet much effort deployed to investigate the challenges in a coordinated manner. The file is however under close scrutiny in the fields, in tea research laboratories, and in research institutes on national level mainly.

• Barbara Dufrêne is the former secretary general of the European Tea Committee and editor of La Nouvelle du Thé. She may be reached at: b-dufrêne@orange.fr.

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Yemen boasts a rich coffee heritage and stands as a unique coffee origin. It is the driest and most extreme coffee-growing region in the world, with the widest range of temperatures. Despite these harsh conditions, Yemeni coffee farmers have developed innovative cultivation practices that balance economic sustainability with environmental conservation. These practices have led to the development of cultivated varieties that have been foundational to the world’s arabica varieties.

Yemen’s contribution to the history of coffee is significant, and its potential role in the future is equally noteworthy. The ability of Yemeni farmers to grow coffee in seemingly impossible conditions offers valuable insights, especially as other coffee-growing regions face similar challenges due to climate change. The knowledge and techniques developed in Yemen may be crucial for other coffee communities worldwide as they contend with the threat of arabica extinction from climatic stress.

Faris Sheibani, founder and CEO of Qima Coffee, said, “The delicate yet intricate relationship between coffee and climate remains unexplored in the context of Yemen; coffee farmers here have been growing their crops in diverse conditions for generations and possess an intuitive ecological understanding of their fields.

“The incoming challenges from climate change will disproportionately impact their lives and livelihoods, and ripple through the supply chain. Thus, this year’s Best of Yemen goes beyond its identity as an event; it is a call for a more sustainable future that is backed by contemporary scientific research and equitable community action.”

Erwin Mierish, executive director at Cup of Excellence and ACE, said, “Yemen coffee stands as a remarkable testament to quality and resilience; despite the harsh climate and political environment, it continues to deliver a flavour as rich and enduring as its heritage.”

Best of Yemen, a cornerstone of the Yemeni specialty coffee, invites exceptional produce from all corners of the country and presents them to some of the most discerning global buyers through its innovative, online auction platform. As part of Qima’s work to cement an equitable supply chain, the auction returns in its sixth edition envisioning a resilient future for thousands of its participants.

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Using traditional breeding methods, Nestlé plant scientists and agronomists have developed Star 4, a novel high-yielding Arabica coffee variety. Selected in Brazil for its resilience, the new variety also possesses the characteristic taste of Brazilian coffee.

“We are proud to make another important step towards resilient coffee supply chains, ensuring that consumers can continue to enjoy great coffee in the future. The new variety is characterised by its larger bean size and coffee leaf rust resistance. Our field trials have demonstrated that, using similar inputs, the yields of Star 4 are substantially higher than the two most used Brazilian local varieties, which reduces its carbon footprint,” said Jeroen Dijkman, head of Nestlé’s Institute of Agricultural Sciences.

Reduced GHG emissions from higher coffee yields are attributed to improved plant productivity as well as farming methods. Marcelo Burity, Nestlé’s head of green coffee development, commented: “Optimising cultivation practices remains vital as they are the primary factor contributing to the environmental impact of a cup of coffee.” The largest share of GHG emissions in the process of obtaining ground coffee originates from its cultivation.

The development of locally relevant solutions such as Star 4 also contributes to Nestlé’s Agriculture Framework (pdf, 18Mb) promoting sustainable farming practices and responsible sourcing. The first plants were tested in São Paulo and Minas Gerais, two traditional coffee regions in Brazil. Moreover, in partnership with the Brazilian foundation Procafé, Nestlé was successful in registering the novel Arabica variety in Brazil.

Beyond the development of Star 4, Nestlé previously developed two Robusta varieties Roubi 1 and 2 which are being rolled out in Mexico.

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Green Coffee Price
The ICO Composite Indicator Price (I-CIP) averaged 175.73 US cents/lb in December, an 8.8% increase from November 2023. The I-CIP posted a median value of 177.64 US cents/lb, having fluctuated between 163.92 and 186.04 US cents/lb. The December 2023 I-CIP is above the December 2022 I-CIP by 11.8%, with the 12-month rolling average at 165.23 US cents/lb. The I-CIP grew steadily in December 2023, reaching a nine-month high. The rise in tensions in the Red Sea has prompted some shipping lines to re-route their coffee-carrying vessels. Thus, for South-East Asian and East African coffee en route to Europe, unintended consequences include a rise in freight costs as some shipping companies have introduced surcharges to account for the now-extended transit times.

The Colombian Milds and Other Milds increased by 7.6% and 6.9%, to 210.68 and 210.76 US cents/lb, respectively, in December 2023. The Brazilian Naturals presented a growth of 9.4%, reaching an average of 185.23 US cents/lb. However, the Robustas grew the most by 10.5% to 135.47 US cents/lb, the highest level since May 1995, when they were valued at 140.90 US cents/lb. ICE’s New York market was a strong driver of the positive growth, having increased by 9.6% to 186.67 US cents/lb, whilst the London Futures market expanded by 12.2%, to 123.91 US cents/lb, also the highest level since May 1995.

Arbitrage, as measured between the London and New York Futures markets, widened by 5.0% to 62.77 US cents/lb in December 2023.

Intra-day volatility of the I-CIP expanded to 10.2% between November and December 2023. The Colombian Milds’ and Other Milds’ volatility also increased to 10.8% and 10.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Naturals’ volatility rose by 2.9 percentage points to 12.6% from November to December 2023. The Robustas presented the smallest volatility increase, with a 0.9 percentage point gain, averaging 9.2% for the month of December. The London Futures market’s volatility increased by 2.7 percentage points to 9.1%. Lastly, the New York futures market’s volatility moved in tandem to that of London, expanding by 2.4 percentage points and reaching 10.5%.

The New York certified stocks continued on their downward trajectory, retracting by 15.0% to 0.28 million 60-kg bags, one of the lowest figures ever recorded. Certified stocks of Robusta coffee reached 0.57 million 60-kg bags, a 68.4% increase since November 2023.

Exports by Coffee Groups — Green Beans
Global green bean exports in November 2023 totalled 9.79 million bags, as compared with 9.1 million bags in the same month of the previous year, up 7.6%. As a result, the cumulative total for coffee year 2023/24 to November is 18.39 million bags, as compared with 17.7 million bags over the same period a year ago, up 3.9%.

Shipments of the Other Milds increased by 17.9% in November 2023 to 1.31 million bags from 1.11 million bags in the same period last year. Peru was the main driver of the double-digit growth of this group of coffee, with the origin’s exports of the Other Milds increasing by 60.1% to 0.57 million bags in November 2023 from 0.35 million bags in November 2022, following a 28.9% increase in October 2023. The resurgence of Peru’s exports of the Other Milds is due to the return to normality of local production conditions in coffee year 2023/24 as compared with those seen in coffee year 2022/23. Irregular weather patterns negatively affected the local supply of coffee beans in 2022/23, especially in the first three months of the coffee year, when 1.15 million bags were exported. This was the lowest first three months of exports since the 0.93 million bags shipped in coffee year 2014/15, representing a 26.7% fall in the average volume of exports in coffee years 2015/16–2021/22, which was 1.57 million bags. As a result, the cumulative volume of total exports of the Other Milds also increased, jumping by 9.2% in the first two months of coffee year 2023/24 to 2.74 million bags, versus 2.51 million bags over the same period in 2022/23.

Green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals increased in November 2023, rising by 1.6% to 3.63 million bags. For the first two months of coffee year 2023/24, green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals amounted to 7.35 million bags, up 4.0% from 7.07 million bags over the same period a year ago. The relatively shallow positive growth rate reflects the 2.6% increase in exports of the Brazilian Naturals from Brazil, the biggest producer and exporter of this group of coffee, which rose to 3.2 million bags in November 2023 from 3.12 million bags November 2022.

Exports of the Colombian Milds increased by 34.0% to 1.15 million bags in November 2023 from 0.85 million bags in November 2022, driven primarily by Colombia, the main origin of this group of coffee, whose exports of green beans were up 35.6% in November 2023. As a result, exports of the Colombian Milds for the first two months of coffee year 2023/24 are up 18.7% at 2.1 million bags, as compared with 1.77 million bags in the first two months of coffee year 2022/23.

Green bean exports of the Robustas amounted to 3.7 million bags in November 2023, as compared with 3.56 million bags in November 2022, up 4.0%. In volume terms, these constitute the biggest November exports on record, surpassing the level set in November 2022. However, the rise was not sufficient to offset the 10.9% decrease observed in October 2023, when the 2.49 million bags exported represented the lowest quantity for the month since the 1.91 million bags in October 2011. As a result, the cumulative total for the first two months of coffee year 2023/24 is down 2.5%, at 6.2 million bags, as compared with 6.36 million bags in the first two months of coffee year 2022/23. The main driver of November’s Robustas increase was Brazil, shipping 0.86 million bags, a jump of 850.2%.

Exports by Regions — All Forms of Coffee
In November 2023, South America’s exports of all forms of coffee increased by 24.7% to 6.07 million bags. The source of the strong positive growth is mainly Brazil, which saw its exports increase by 21.1% to 4.34 million bags from 3.58 million bags in November 2022. More specifically, it was the Robustas from the origin, which in November increased by 850.2% to 0.86 million bags from 0.09 million bags, which drove the region’s positive growth. The November 2023 exports are Brazil’s highest on record for Robusta coffee, beating the 698,856 bags exported in August 2023. Brazil is one of the largest producers and exporters of the Robustas, having accounted for an 8.1% share of the group’s total exports in coffee year 2021/22, i.e. 3.94 million bags. That said, in July–October 2023, Brazil’s share of the Robustas more than doubled, increasing to 22.3%, with the country exporting 3.09 million bags in just four months. This surge was in response to the reduced volume of Robustas coming out of Vietnam, whose Robusta exports fell by 27.5% in July–October 2023 to 4.92 million bags from 6.78 million bags over the same period a year ago. The continued rampant expansion of Brazil’s Robusta exports despite Vietnam’s recovery in November 2023 suggests that its strong foray into this market may continue.

Robusta exports fell by 27.5% in July–October 2023 to 4.92 million bags from 6.78 million bags over the same period a year ago. The continued rampant expansion of Brazil’s Robusta exports despite Vietnam’s recovery in November 2023 suggests that its strong foray into this market may continue.

Exports of all forms of coffee from Africa decreased by 13.5% to 1.01 million bags in November 2023 from 1.16 million bags in November 2022. For the first two months of coffee year 2023/24, exports totalled 2.06 million bags as compared with 2.24 million bags in coffee year 2022/23, down 8.1%. This is the third consecutive month of negative growth for the region and it affected most origins, including all the major producers whose combined exports decreased by 11.4% to 0.93 million bags from 1.05 million bags in November 2022. It is speculated that the surge in Brazil’s Robusta exports is crowding out traditional exporters of the group from the market, thus broadly affecting Africa as a whole, which is a largely Robusta-producing region. Uganda, the largest producer and exporter of Robusta coffee in Africa, was also affected by a delayed harvest season which negatively impacted the supply availability.

In November 2023, exports of all forms of coffee from Mexico & Central America were up 15.7% to 0.41 million bags, as compared with 0.35 million in November 2022. As a result, total exports are up 11.0% for October 2023 to November 2023 at 0.9 million bags, as compared with 0.81 million bags for the same period a year ago. Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico are the three main origins behind the region’s double-digit growth in November, with their respective exports up 114.0%, 29.7% and 11.8%. These robust growth rates do not, however, herald the beginning of a record-breaking year for the three origins or for the region, but rather are indications that export volumes are returning to the levels of the recent past, following a sharp fall in coffee year 2022/23. Accordingly, the average October–November export volume for coffee years 2017/18–2021/22 was 0.7 million bags for the three countries as compared with 0.6 million bags in coffee year 2022/23, a 14.6% fall. This has now increased to 0.68 million bags in coffee year 2023/24.

Exports of all forms of coffee from Asia & Oceania decreased by 18.0% to 3.12 million bags in November 2023. November’s downturn was mainly due to Indonesia, with exports down 45.2% to 0.49 million bags from 0.89 million bags in November 2022. These are the lowest November exports since the 0.2 million bags shipped in 2018. The decrease can be attributed to a reduced harvest in coffee year 2023/24, which is estimated to have fallen by 16.6% to 10.0 million bags from 11.98 million bags in coffee year 2022/23 on the back of excessive rains that damaged cherries in April–May 2023. Vietnam’s exports fell by 7.7% in November, a vast improvement from the steep declines of 23.6%, 45.0% and 44.7% seen in August, September and October 2023. This may indicate that its supply issues have now started to resolve after very low in-origin stock levels were reported in Q4 of coffee year 2022/23, when the start of the harvest still remained three to four months away.

Exports of Coffee by Forms
Total exports of soluble coffee decreased by 25.4% in November 2023 to 0.77 million bags from 1.03 million bags in November 2022. In the first two months of coffee year 2023/24, a total of 1.75 million bags of soluble coffee were exported, representing a decrease of 3.0% from the 1.8 million bags exported in the same period during the previous coffee year.

Soluble coffee’s share in the total exports of all forms of coffee for the year to date was 8.6% in November 2023, down from 9.2% in the same period a year ago. Brazil is the largest exporter of soluble coffee, having shipped 0.24 million bags in November 2023.

Exports of roasted beans were down 15.5% in November 2023 to 54,379 bags, as compared with 64,324 bags in November 2022. The cumulative total for coffee year 2023/24 to November 2023 was 0.1 million bags, as compared with 0.13 million bags in same period a year ago.

Production and Consumption
World coffee production increased by 0.1% to 168.2 million bags in coffee year 2022/23. The stagnant growth rate belies the tremendous changes at the regional level, with the coffee world neatly split between the expanding Americas and the shrinking rest of the world.

Asia & Oceania and Africa’s 4.7% and 7.2% decreases in production to 49.84 million bags and 17.9 million bags, respectively, can be attributed to adverse weather conditions negatively affecting key producers in the regions, particularly Vietnam, Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda. The magnitude of the fall in outputs of the two regions was entirely mitigated by the Americas, especially by South America’s 4.8% increase, which in turn was driven mainly by the biennial production-affected 8.4% increase in Brazil. The combined output of the Americas was 100.5 million bags.

The Americas versus the rest of the world split was also reflected in the production split between the Arabicas and Robustas, with the former’s output increasing by 1.8% to 94.0 million bags as compared with the 2.0% decrease of the latter to 74.2 million bags.

Looking ahead, the output for coffee year 2023/24 is expected to increase by 5.8% to 178.0 million bags, with the Arabicas’ output rising to 102.2 million bags and the Robustas’ increasing to 75.8 million bags.

The biennial production effect will play a large role in the outlook, especially for Brazil and the Arabicas, as the impact of the July 2021 frost continues to be resolved. Coffee year 2023/24 is anticipated to be an exceptional off-biennial year, feeling more like a good on-biennial following an average on-biennial year. Adverse weather conditions, first noted in 2022 and continuing into 2023, will have a negative impact on the outlook for coffee year 2023/24. The anticipated El Niño phenomenon is set to dampen the outlook in Asia, especially for origins like Indonesia. Meanwhile, Vietnam is expected to benefit from the drier/hotter weather as irrigation mitigates the reduced precipitation.

World coffee consumption is continuing to resolve through the issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the consumption trend following an established patten in response to an external shock. The expectation for coffee year 2022/23 was for a smaller positive growth rate; however, world coffee consumption actually recorded a decrease of 2.0% to 173.1 million bags.

Consumption in coffee year 2022/23 did not faithfully follow the established pattern due to the impact of the high cost of living, falling disposable incomes and a long stocks drawdown. Despite coffee being relatively inelastic, the challenging global economic environment would have had a negative impact on its consumption. The world inflation rate was at its highest in 2021 at 9.4%, while the benchmark interest rate averaged 4.9% at the end of September 2023 in the European Union, UK and USA, the highest level since an average of 5.8% in 2000. At the same time, there was a large drawdown of stocks, where combined stocks reported by the European Coffee Federation and those held at the Intercontinental Exchange’s warehouses in the USA fell by 4.8 million bags from 14.5 million to 9.8 million. This drawdown would have reduced the need for purchases on the international market, seemingly reflected as lower and anomalous global consumption rates for coffee year 2022/23.

The world coffee consumption outlook for coffee year 2023/24 is broadly framed by the assumption that the global economy will continue to grow at above 3.0%, and that the industry will respond to the large drawdown of stocks, which will be positively reflected in apparent consumption. As a result, world coffee consumption is expected to grow by 2.2% to 177.0 million bags, with non-producing countries making the biggest contribution to the overall increase. Coffee consumption in this group of countries should expand by 2.1%.

As a result, the world coffee market is expected to run a surplus of 1.0 million bags in coffee year 2023/24.

The outlook is taken from the newest publication of the Statistics Section of the Secretariat of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the Coffee Report and Outlook (CRO). For the full CRO or for more information, visit the ICO website: icocoffee.org.

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Climate change is putting coffee-growing areas under pressure. Smallholder coffee farmers are exposed to the risk of irregular weather conditions that can affect their crops.

On the occasion of International Coffee Day, Nestlé announced that it is piloting a weather insurance programme in Indonesia for more than 800 smallholder coffee farmers that supply coffee to its brand, Nescafé. The company is launching the insurance scheme in collaboration with Blue Marble, a specialist in climate insurance. The insurance provides financial protection to help farmers cope with unpredictable weather patterns of rainfall and severe drought.

Marcelo Burity, global head of Nestlé’s green coffee development, said, “This weather insurance helps to establish a support mechanism for smallholder coffee farmers in Indonesia. It allows them to access financial resources to re-establish their crops in the event of irregular weather conditions while building resilience in coffee farms.”

The insurance uses satellite-based climate data to determine when coffee output has been impacted by either too much or not enough rainfall during key phases of the crop cycle. Payments are issued automatically to registered coffee farmers that have been affected, according to the severity of the weather.

“Smallholder coffee farmers in Indonesia are vulnerable to climate risks and need access to insurance to protect against extreme weather events,” said Jaime de Piniés, CEO of Blue Marble. “We are proud to partner with Nestlé and its brand Nescafé to develop innovative ways to support the climate adaptation of smallholder coffee farmers and their families.”

This initiative is an integral part of the Nescafé Plan 2030, the brand’s vision to support the long term sustainability of coffee and to help improve farmers’ livelihoods. Based on the results of the pilot, Nestlé will determine whether to expand the approach to other Nescafé sourcing locations around the world.

Sharing knowledge to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture

Changing agricultural practices requires access to knowledge and time to learn and implement. By moving to regenerative agriculture, coffee farmers can help restore soil health, reverse biodiversity loss, and strengthen ecosystems. Doing so also helps reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

Nestlé, has contributed to the ‘Regenerative Agriculture for Low-Carbon and Resilient Coffee Farms – A Practical Guidebook,’ developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). This guidebook provides field agronomists, trainers and professionals working with coffee farmers with a set of best practices that they can use and adapt to different farming contexts, helping farmers transition to regenerative agriculture. These best practices include agroforestry, intercropping, soil conservation and cover crops, integrated weed and pest management, integrated nutrient management, efficient water use, waste valorisation, landscape actions and the rejuvenation of coffee trees with well adapted varieties.

Pascal Chapot, global head of sustainable agriculture development at Nestlé, said, “The guidebook gives coffee farmers a set of field actions they can implement tomorrow to help them become more resilient to climate change and to diversify their sources of income. Knowledge is key, and we hope that this guidebook makes these regenerative agriculture practices more accessible to farmers and supports an accelerated transition towards them. This is essential to tackling the climate challenges ahead.”

Mirjam Pulleman, senior soil ecologist and co-author of the guidebook said, “Creating real impact on the ground requires learning from real experiences with farmers in different origins and providing incentives to support farmers in their journey. The best practices highlighted in the guidebook are a starting point. Each practice will need to be tailored to the specificities of each country of origin, the different farm types, the surrounding landscapes and the resources available.”

From Nestlé’s perspective, the guidebook complements the Nestlé Regenerative Agriculture Framework (pdf, 18Mb). Nestlé considers regenerative agriculture to be a key component of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to reach net zero by 2050. It is also a central pillar of its coffee sustainability programmes, the Nescafé Plan 2030 and the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality programme.

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While this increasingly extreme weather may have been a wakeup call for some, World Coffee Research (WCR) has long anticipated these threats and is on a mission to mitigate the effects these changes will have, and is having, on our coffee industry, by breeding and growing more climate resistant coffee species. Yesterday, WCR shared an article on its LinkedIn page, published by the Financial Times, titled ‘Have we reached peak coffee?’

Coffee consumption is on the rise, the article detailed, with a rapidly growing market among ‘new consumers’ in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, this demand is outpacing supply, with warming temperatures threatening up to half of current coffee farmland, and fluctuating harvests forcing farmers to abandon the industry for a more stable income.

Vanusia Nogueira, executive director of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) noted in the piece that coffee may be forced to become a luxury commodity or endure a significant hit to its quality if the deficit continues.

Meanwhile, Jennifer ‘Vern’ Long, chief executive of WCR explained how the challenge comes from coffee being a plant that loves ‘perfect’ or ‘Goldilocks’ weather with just the right temperatures and rainfall, which are the fragile conditions being threatened by climate change. Areas that are currently ideal for coffee growing, known as the coffee belt, are decreasing in their suitability, with areas previously unsuited, to the north or south of this belt, beginning to be more suitable for growing coffee. However, any shift in location would affect the livelihoods of innumerable communities across the coffee belt that are reliant on coffee growing for their economy.

Since so much of the retail value of coffee is held in the higher-income countries which import the coffee, the coffee-farming communities do not have the resources or resilience to hold fast against these climate-induced challenges. The future of coffee hangs in the balance unless there is a redistribution of the risk and profit in the industry as a whole so that coffee farming remains a desirable and reliable practice for those communities, emphasised Daniele Giovannucci, founder of the Committeee on Sustainability Assessment, in the article.

Alongside this rethink of coffee pricing, ought to be a revaluation of the coffee plants themselves. While there are 130 species of coffee discovered in the wild, only arabica and robusta are used for the world’s coffee consumption, which significantly increases the vulnerability of the plant.

At World of Coffee Athens in June, Emilia Umaña, WCR nursery development manager, explained in her presentation that World Coffee Research is a collective investment in the future of coffee by the coffee industry. The work WCR does is to breed varieties that wouldn’t normally meet naturally, in order to cultivate certain advantageous characteristics, notably resistance to drought and high temperatures, to safeguard the future of the coffee industry. WCR has over 170 members in 30 countries and relies on these multinational links in its research. Numerous factors such as altitude, soil type, etc., as well as climate, necessarily impact the characteristics of coffee plants grown there, so the same variant may differ in each location. Which is why thorough testing internationally is essential.

Drastic changes to the way we grow, trade, and consume coffee might well be on the horizon, which is why change is rapidly needed to meet the ever-growing demand from the threatened supply. Work that the WCR is doing provides options to farmers, but they must be supported and incentivised by the corporations dominating the rest of the supply chain for coffee farming to continue being a worthwhile and viable livelihood.

• Kathryn Brand, associate editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: kathryn@bellpublishing.com
  Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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Coffee farmers continue to face relentless challenges including mounting economic and climate pressures. Available data show that smallholder farmers produce 60 percent of the world’s coffee yet nearly half of them live in poverty and nearly 25 percent of them live in extreme poverty (less than USD $2.15/day). Furthermore, although coffee prices in 2022 were relatively high, profits ultimately failed to trickle down to the farmers themselves. Studies have shown that producers typically retain around one percent of the retail coffee price — for a USD $4 cup of specialty coffee that equals around $0.04 per cup.

The new Fairtrade prices, which were announced in March and implemented 1 August 2023 (for contracts signed by that date), increase the baseline price by 29 percent and 19 percent for Fairtrade-certified Arabica and Robusta, respectively. The new prices come after a cost-of-production study and consultation – including outreach to more than 600 producer organisations and 745 commercial partners – confirmed that farmers need to be paid more or they cannot continue to grow coffee.

“Paying farmers a fair price for their crops is the bare minimum to keep them farming,” Benjamin Kouame, chair of Fairtrade Africa shared of the new price model.

The Bonn, Germany-based social justice organisation said the increase will provide farmers with significant price risk management support in times of wild market fluctuation and adapt to their needs as they face inflation in their home countries and substantial additional costs due to climate change adaption. The new Fairtrade Minimum Price for washed Arabica beans – which represent more than 80 percent of all Fairtrade coffee sold – is USD $1.80 per pound, an increase of 40 cents over the previous price of $1.40 per pound. For natural Robusta, the price increases by 19 cents to $1.20 per pound. The additional value for organic Fairtrade coffee has been increased by a third, from 30 cents to 40 cents per pound. According to the non-profit organisation, more than half of Fairtrade coffee beans sold in 2021 were also organic certified.

“Despite the recent spikes in global coffee prices, coffee farmers are struggling with inflation, skyrocketing production costs, and crop loss due to the effects of climate change. Many coffee farmers are abandoning their farms in search of opportunities elsewhere and young people today in coffee-growing communities struggle to see a future in coffee,” Monika Firl, senior manager for coffee at Fairtrade International, said in a statement when the new minimum price was first announced. “The fact that farmers cannot make a living in coffee is a tragic commentary for the industry and a huge risk for the future of the global coffee sector as a whole.”

With its new minimum price, Firl said that Fairtrade is offering coffee farmers and their cooperatives a pricing safety net, “better adapted to the uncertain times we are living in, while leaving the door open for them to earn more when market prices are above the Fairtrade Minimum Price.” She added, “This is an essential tool that coffee farmers must be allowed to leverage in order to find renewed stability in their profession.”

Fairtrade’s global coffee network comprises nearly 900,000 certified coffee farmers in over 650 producer organisations spanning 31 countries. In addition to the Fairtrade Minimum Price, Fairtrade-certified farmers also receive a Premium – an additional sum of money that is collectively invested in projects to improve productivity, climate adaptation, quality, infrastructure, and basic community services identified as priorities by the farmers themselves and their organisations.

“The future of coffee is one where fair pricing is the norm. It is not acceptable for coffee farmers to continue to subsidise the multi-billion dollar coffee industry, while also taking on the hard work of sustainable transition,” emphasised Firl.

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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The Rainforest Alliance has set out its new vision for accelerating action to address the climate emergency, biodiversity loss, systemic poverty, and human rights issues in its 2022 Annual Report.

Priority landscapes: Discover more about the Rainforest Alliance’s efforts to drive sustainability transformation in Cameroon, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Indonesia, and beyond. Learn about the launch and recognition of LandScale, a tool that measures, evaluates, and communicates the performance of sustainable landscapes.

Certification and beyond: Explore crop-specific facts and figures and delve into the Rainforest Alliance’s work beyond certification, including advocacy around the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Discover new tools such as the Regenerative Coffee Scorecard, which offers farmers and companies guidance on their transition to regenerative agriculture.

The Rainforest Alliance’s 2030 vision: Dive into the Rainforest Alliance’s forward-looking vision that emphasises the need to transform our food system through regenerative agriculture in the world’s most critical tropical landscapes. It aims to drive systemic change—all while placing rural communities at the heart of the solution.

• 58 countries with certified farms and projects; 6,000+ company partners 
• Four million farmers and workers following the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard 
• Six million+ hectares of farmland certified against our sustainability standards globally 
• 87 projects to improve livelihoods and protect nature; 18 new projects started in 2022 
• 54,000+ products with the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal or UTZ label available 

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Lost from cultivation for more than half a century, stenophylla coffee, or Coffea stenophylla to give it its scientific name, has been grown successfully at a pilot project in the east of the country following its rediscovery in the wild.

It took a five-year-long search by a Sierra Leonean forestry expert, Daniel Sarmu, through dense West African bush armed with little more than a pressing of a dried stenophylla leaf dating from the 1950s, before the first wild examples were found.

But it is the recent progress made in nurseries and plantations close to where the trees were rediscovered where the interest lies for the world’s coffee market, projected to be worth USD 113 billion annually by 2030.

With rising temperatures and changes in rainfall threatening current coffee production, developments in Sierra Leone offer hope for climate-resilient solutions for the world’s coffee drinkers.

The pilot project is driving ambitious plans to establish stenophylla as the flagship product of Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector, a significant turnaround for a species once sold as Sierra Leone highland coffee but which had been quietly forgotten through history.

Much more work needs to be done to establish the commercial viability of stenophylla but progress of the preliminary project, funded by the Switzerland-based coffee trader, Sucafina, has been encouraging.

“The results are so positive that we believe everything is in place to potentially rejuvenate Stenophylla, a coffee that was once drunk in Paris and London but has not been sold commercially for decades,” said Daniel Sarmu, the forestry expert who found the lost plant and is running the pilot.

“We see this as a possible future flagship product to put Sierra Leone on the world’s coffee map.”

The Sierra Leonean project has implications for the world’s coffee market as it offers hope in the face of the threat that climate change poses to the two species – Arabica and Robusta – which produce the beans that go into almost all of the 400 billion cups of coffee drunk each year.

Grown commercially in more than 50 nations in an industry that generates more than 25 million jobs, these two species are vulnerable to climate change, whilst Stenophylla offers both great taste and heat tolerance.

In blind tastings held since the rediscovery, experts scored stenophylla as highly for taste as some high-grade Arabicas, as well as offering distinctly novel flavours. Many other wild species of coffee have been tasted over the decades but with disappointing results.

Stenophylla’s taste quality, which saw it traded and drunk in the coffee salons of Europe in the late nineteenth century, makes it stand out as a potential equivalent to Arabica and Robusta.

Naturally occurring in the eastern highlands of Sierra Leone, a vestigial stenophylla farming sector flourished briefly during British colonial rule until the turn of the twentieth century when it dwindled and was forgotten as mass production of Arabica and Robusta came to dominate the global market. There are even early colonial records of it being grown commercially on hilly farm-holdings close to the centre of what is now Freetown, the coastal capital of Sierra Leone.

It is its adaptation to the environment of lowland, tropical Upper West Africa that makes stenophylla so unique. With old records of it occurring naturally in Guinea-Conakry, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, on slopes of hills ranging from 200 to 700 metres above sea level, Stenophylla has a tolerance for high temperatures, and perhaps even some drought tolerance.

Daniel Sarmu and his two British collaborators, Aaron Davis from The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Jeremy Haggar from the University of Greenwich, point out that more research needs to be done on the unique characteristics of stenophylla. This includes analysis of the climate, terrain, soils and topography that favour its growth and, importantly, its yield in terms of amount of berries and the time taken for the plant to grow from a seed to productivity.

“We are learning all the time,” Daniel Sarmu said. “The historic literature only gives part of the picture so we need to build up a better understanding. But the work we are doing is encouraging with, for example, plants promising to yield fruits (and thus coffee beans) after three or four years rather than the seven or nine years suggested in some of the old references.” The lifecycle of Arabica and Robusta is three or four years from planting a seed to harvesting fruit mature enough to produce commercial coffee.

Working with his British colleagues who found references to Stenophylla in old books and journals, Daniel Sarmu led the field work. A forestry graduate with a degree from Sierra Leone’s Njala University, to begin with all he had to guide him were a few old photographs and a dried sample of a stenophylla leaf that had been archived at the National Herbarium which is located at his alma mater.

Daniel Sarmu led search parties with his colleagues in the forested hills around Freetown but found no remnants of the historic farms where stenophylla bloomed more than a century ago. The city is located on a mountainous peninsula and, although the slopes used to be heavily forested, urbanisation has led to a significant amount of deforestation.

After cross referencing maps with old records, his search focused far from the city in areas that included the Kambui Hills in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, densely forested areas which meant locating the remnant Stenophylla plants was like hunting a needle in a haystack.

While experts have other ways to identify stenophylla, the layman might look for their long, thin, spear-tip shaped leaves and their distinctive black berries, different from the deep red berries of commercial coffee plants.

After a search that lasted five years and working with local villagers and foresters, Daniel Sarmu eventually found 15 stenophylla trees and was able to gather fruits and so-called ‘wildlings’, young stenophylla plants propagated naturally in the wild.

His work led to growing sense of ‘stenophylla fever’ as word spread among rural communities with foresters, farmers and hunters all searching for areas where the plant might grow. Stands of mature stenophylla have now been found in three areas in the east and south of Sierra Leone with more discoveries expected in other hilly regions.

A five-acre plot was offered up by one community for a nursery, where seeds were successfully planted and germinated, appearing as seedlings under the cover of thatched sunshades made from palm fronds. More than 1,400 seedlings cultivated in the nursery have been planted out in the areas where the project managers hope they will be able to mature and grow a first crop of fruit. Another 6,000 seedlings from the nursery are due to be planted out in the rainy season, which has just begun in Sierra Leone and will last until early September.

The community is committed to the project and has made available 50 acres of additional land to be used as potential hub plantations for a more ambitious plan to grow stenophylla on a commercial scale.

“The first ones planted out are doing better than we expected, growing well, with good leaf development. We were worried it might take many years to crop but now we think it will be about the time of commercial coffee plants,” Daniel Sarmu said.

Grafting experiments have also been started with the top half of stenophylla plants grafted successfully onto rootstocks of Liberian coffee, Coffea liberica, which grows well in the area but produces a lower value berry.

More grafting work is planned to explore how best to develop commercial stenophylla production in an expedient and cost-effective manner.

Potential stenophylla farming is the sort of commercial enterprise welcomed by the government of Sierra Leone, which has just opened a new ‘one stop shop’ for foreign investors seeking opportunities in the country.

The newly-created National Investment Board, which streamlines a notoriously clumsy current process for business licensing and regulation in Sierra Leone, is putting a strong emphasis on agriculture, the country’s single largest employer, and the environment. Stenophylla fits well with both categories of priority.

Agronomists have studied the impact of rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns on coffee production for Arabica and Robusta. Most experts predict major problems with many accepting that if global temperatures rise at current levels more than 50% of the land where coffee is currently produced will soon be unsuitable for production.

Read more about the re-discovery of stenophylla in the wild here.

The post Progress made in climate-resistant coffee species in Sierra Leone appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Recently adopted practices include intercropping, mulching and integrated weed management. In 2022, the Nescafé Plan 2030 farmer trainings on regenerative agricultural practices reached more than 100,000 farmers in 14 countries. In addition, 1.4 million trees were planted in and around coffee farms that supply coffee to Nescafé, providing shade to prevent coffee’s over-exposure to the sun and additional revenue sources for farmers.

Rejuvenation of coffee trees is key to improving the yields of coffee farms. In 2022, Nescafé distributed 23 million disease and drought-resistant, high-yield coffee plantlets to help rejuvenate coffee plots, increase productivity and reduce the use of agrochemicals.

Philipp Navratil, head of Nestlé’s Coffee Strategic Business Unit said, “The Nescafé Plan 2030 Progress Report shows the potential of regenerative agriculture to help make coffee farming more sustainable over the long term. We are supporting coffee farmers to make this transition and are giving them the know-how and tools they need to increase yields and income, while helping reduce carbon emissions at the same time.”

Climate change is the number one concern for coffee farmers in the 14 countries assessed by the Rainforest Alliance. It is followed by high input costs and low raw material prices. Most farmers say that the main reasons for the Nescafé Plan’s success are its consistent and high-volume purchases, regular technical assistance on the ground and access to markets.

The Nescafé Plan 2030 is piloting financial support schemes to help farmers transition to more sustainable practices. The pilots have engaged around 3,000 coffee farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia and Mexico, countries where farmers earn, on average, less than a living income. These pilots include testing conditional cash incentives to reward the transition to regenerative agriculture and the rejuvenation of coffee plots as well as weather insurance schemes to protect farmers’ income against the unexpected effects of climate change. Although the pilots are still ongoing, Nescafé is seeing encouraging results and strong farmer engagement.

Yustika Muharastri, monitoring and evaluation manager from the Rainforest Alliance said, “The Rainforest Alliance works with the Nescafé team to monitor and assess their efforts through the Nescafé Plan. We have observed encouraging trends, including improved incomes in some countries, and increased adoption of important regenerative practices, such as integrated weed and pest management. We are excited that our ongoing collaboration will continue to provide valuable insights to the Nescafé Plan, further supporting its ambition to improve the livelihoods of many more coffee farmers.”

The Nescafé Plan 2030 aims to issue a progress report every year to provide an update on the evolution of its work in helping coffee farming communities transition to regenerative agriculture practices and improve their livelihoods.

Read the Nescafé Plan 2030 Progress Report (pdf, 12Mb)
Read the Rainforest Alliance Impact Assessment

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Robusta farmers have a new open-access resource at their fingertips—World Coffee Research’s (WCR) Robusta Variety Catalog. The catalogue, which is available in English and Spanish, profiles 47 robusta varieties—from origins such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Uganda, Mexico, and Vietnam—using 20+ variables, like yield potential, stature, bean size, nutrition requirements, lineage, susceptibility to pests/diseases, and many more. The catalogue is hosted alongside WCR’s existing Arabica Varieties Catalog on the interactive website varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org.

With robusta’s growing prevalence in the global market, WCR hopes the catalogue will lower the risk associated with coffee farming by providing direct information to enable farmers and other planting decision-makers to make an informed choice about what varieties will grow best in particular environments.

Since the life of a coffee tree is 20-30 years, the decision farmers make about which variety to plant has long-term consequences. If a farmer makes an uninformed decision on variety, the cumulative loss can be huge. Comparatively, if a farmer makes the right decision, the cumulative gain can be significant. For example, a robusta farmer in Uganda who successfully cultivates a healthy Coffee Wilt Disease resistant (CWD-r) plant can earn 250% more than a farmer who plants a susceptible, unhealthy plant.

Most robusta farmers in particular do not have access to transparent information about available varieties and how they differ. Robusta farmers typically sell into lower-value markets where variety differentiation is nonexistent. In addition, robusta requires more than one variety and simultaneous flowering for successful pollination. Because of this, farmers must cultivate a mixt of complementary clones to enhance fruit production and quality. These mixtures, which typically comprise officially-released commercial varieties, are often distributed to farmers with minimal transparency about what clones are included in the mix and their unique properties. The lack of up-to-date variety information puts farmers at risk and perpetuates low yields around the globe.

This resource serves as an expansion of WCR’s popular Arabica Variety Catalog, which was launched in 2016 and profiles arabica varieties from around the world. At the time of its release, the arabica catalogue was a first-of-its-kind resource and the only global compendium of information about available coffee varieties for farmers, buyers, and roasters. The resource has been viewed over one million times since its launch and, as a living document, continues to support WCR’s goal to improve the availability and accessibility of improved planting material for farmers around the world.

Until recently, arabica held reign over most of the coffee market due to preferences for its beverage quality, but various factors, including the increasing demand and climate pressure for farmers, have led to expansions in the production of robusta.

“Since our founding over ten years ago, WCR has worked to empower farmers by making tools available to choose the right varieties for their farms and their markets—varieties that deliver high yield and better-tasting coffee in the long term,” said WCR’s chief executive officer Dr Jennifer “Vern” Long. “And, now that robusta comprises 40% of the coffee produced and marketed globally, we saw the need to support farmers by creating this tool.”

The robusta catalogue was generated through collaborative sourcing of data about varieties from breeders and other experts, including the Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI), the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), the National Coffee Research Institute of Uganda (NaCORI-Uganda), the Western Highlands Agroforestry Science Institute (WASI), and Nestlé’s Research Center. The varieties in the robusta catalogue were selected for inclusion because of their economic, historical, cultural, or genetic importance. Even so, significant gaps in data for many Robusta varieties remain. The genetic diversity of robusta coffee is also much larger than that of arabica, and it is only just beginning to be explored by breeders and the industry at large. The catalogue, therefore, does not aim to represent an exhaustive list of all coffee varieties in existence.

Alongside the detailed variety profiles, users can find a consolidated and peer-reviewed history of robusta as a species, which tracks it from its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa through its dispersal across Asia and Latin America to its cultivation today. In addition, the history provides a brief overview of the genetic diversity and conservation of robusta to provide readers the opportunity to better understand how well-differentiated the various populations of this species are.

The interactive catalogue website features the ability to filter on different variables, such as yield potential, country of release, and more. It also includes the ability to generate a unique, customisable PDF with the varieties of the user’s choice, and a new visualisation of the genetic groups of the included varieties. Both the arabica and robusta catalogues are shared via Creative Commons licenses that make them available for free distribution worldwide.

The robusta and arabica catalogues can be accessed free of cost at varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org.

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Climate change and the continued weather unpredictability have prompted agriculture and manufacturing industries to look deeper into their practices and their impact. Growing food with weather shifts wiping out crops and depleted soil beds not providing adequate nutrients is increasingly challenging. Sustainable and organic methods can ensure that no further harm is being done; however, there is increased recognition of the need for incremental positive changes in the atmosphere and the soil.

On 16 January, the World Economic Forum reported the need to take immediate action to create a nature positive economy. This includes recognising regenerative agriculture for both its potential to address the climate crisis, while also cultivating new businesses and jobs.

Keeping carbon in the earth and plants

One way to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is through biological sequestering, which naturally occurs in grasslands, forests and soil. In a recent study published by The Journal of Agricultural Science, researchers Iticha and Niguse explored coffee plants’ contribution to sequestering carbon in agroforestry systems of Southwestern Ethiopia. The study looked at coffee forests’ role in mitigating climate change to quantify coffee plants’ contribution to the overall carbon stock of coffee agroforestry systems. The study’s results demonstrated the interdependency between crops, specifically, that the carbon sequestration varied with the coffee management system and type of shade tree. “Albizia julibrissin” (mimosa or silk tree plant) was the most compatible plant, followed by the mixed tree-shaded stratum and the “Syzgium”-shaded coffee stratum.

According to the Rodale Institute, the widespread adoption of regenerative organic practices could sequester more than 100 percent of the annual carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, the organic matter in soil has up to four times more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation. However, to sequester the carbon in the ground, there is a need for a continual supply of organic matter. This organic matter is vital to both prevent carbon from leaching into the atmosphere and to support microbial life and plant life.

Regenerative agricultural practices are increasingly being recognised as the key to achieving net positive and, in turn, helping repair the atmosphere and infuse nutrients back into the soil. It is a nature-positive agricultural system that mimics natural processes in the ecosystems. Through regenerative agriculture, agroecosystems can be designed to improve soil health, biodiversity, the carbon sequestration rate, and increase the economic resilience of farmers.

On its website, Nespresso explains that regenerative agriculture “is a holistic agricultural system that works in harmony with its local environment. Practices such as using cover crops, crop rotation, no-tillage, diversification (when possible, with trees) and others are applied for that purpose.” Adopting regenerative agriculture practices has been proven to have a widescale impact in addition to carbon sequestering, ecosystem resilience and improved soil health such as developing more nutrient-dense foods.

Recent research from the Farming Systems Trial conducted by the Rodale Institute revealed that these practices could produce a more nutrient-dense crop and be an effective model to withstand the stressors of extreme weather changes. Their 40-year report showed a positive impact on soil health, water infiltration, carbon capture, and yields when adopting regenerative organic practices. In addition, the trial results supported that regenerative organic plots could sustain their crops in extreme weather conditions. “The Farming Systems Trial (FST) is one of our most significant research projects,” Rodale Institute CEO Jeff Moyer said. “In fact, with FST’s 40 years of accumulated data and findings, it is fair to say that it is the most consequential study of organic agriculture anywhere.”

Despite this long history with regenerative practices, conventional farmers have only recently recognised regenerative as a potential solution to sustain and grow their businesses. Growth in the tea and coffee sectors is on a positive trajectory, including adopting the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROC) certification to help communicate these agricultural practices to consumers. Equator Coffee, Heirloom Coffee Roasters, Canyon Coffee, and Groundwork Coffee are four coffee roasters using the ROC certification, obtaining certified coffee from producer groups based in Nicaragua and Sierra Leone.

On 6 March, the 2023 Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, California, reported that 63 CPG brands attending the event support regenerative agriculture, an increase of ten companies from the previous year. Regenerative agriculture was a topic of interest this year, with the Expo West recognising and celebrating leaders in regenerative agriculture and acknowledging the challenges these companies have faced. “The keynote speaker on the first day at the Expo West really put forth regenerative agriculture as the top solution to address climate change today,” said Michael Ham, founder, Wild Orchid Tea, Mt Kisco, New York. “People are waking up to the fact that we cannot extract any more from the Earth, and we need to replenish what we’ve removed.”

Natural Products Expo West reported that there are several barriers preventing widespread adoption, including a limited supply chain, difficulty in implementing the practices, and a lack of clarity on how to communicate the value to the end consumer. Only 4 percent of US consumers are aware of regenerative practices; however, 49 percent of US consumers identified as either being health and/or environmentally motivated, providing a potential market for regenerative products to tap into.

“The biggest thing brands need to look at is the purchasing power of the younger demographics,” said Ham. “This group is looking for brands very focused on sustainability, environmental consciousness and how they treat their workers.” Wild Orchid Tea has been slowly building awareness of the virtues of regenerative agriculture through education and its product line. This year, one of their primary areas of focus is on growing their retail market, which includes launching a plant-based tea bag line providing consumers with a convenient, high-quality regenerative tea product.

Within the last five years, several significant players in both the tea and coffee industries have become advocates for this method of agriculture, providing resources and training for farmers wanting to convert the farms. Established by Filipe Villela and Marco de Boer, reNature, based in the Netherlands, was created to support coffee farmers contemplating switching to regenerative practices. The company supports farmers with various tools, including training programs and strategic advisory consultations, to aid them with the transition to a regenerative farming system.

In its Positive Cup report, Nespresso emphasised the need to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture. This includes the commitment to reduce the use of agrochemicals, and adopt nature-based practices, carbon removal, including a commitment to plant four million trees each year, and the adoption of crop diversification, and reduced tillage, to infuse the health of the soil, and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Nespresso is working in conjunction with reNature to both define key regenerative agricultural practices in the coffee sector and develop an analytical framework to evaluate both the costs and benefits of these practices. One of the first adopters of these practices is the Guima Café, Brazil, where they are currently implementing regenerative agriculture practices, beginning with a 10-hectare demonstration plot, with the goal of scaling it to 850 hectares.

“I think this year is going to be a seminal moment for regenerative brands,” shared Ham. He shared that his booth received a lot of interest and support about regenerative practices throughout Expo West, including questions from major retailers and tea brands. “It (regenerative agriculture) is going to be a focus at these top retailers. This increased attention on regenerative practices, and products, is vital to help increase consumer awareness of this agricultural practices, and in turn, drive sales.”

Led by its chairman, Andreas Illy, who has long-been a proponent, illycaffè has been a passionate advocate for virtuous (regenerative) agriculture in both the coffee industry, and in agriculture in general. The Trieste, Italy-based company aims to be carbon neutral by 2033. Recognising the need to increase consumer engagement in the necessity of supporting regenerative agriculture practices, illycaffè launched its #cupsidedown campaign, which was introduced in an Illy Art Collection this past October with the artist Matteo Attruia. The goal is to increase consumer awareness of the necessity of a circular economy, with virtuous agriculture being an essential piece of the puzzle.

“The upside-down cup, symbol of this campaign, has been designed to propose a change of perspective, a different way of living and observing our daily lives, starting from a natural gesture such as drinking an illy coffee, which must not be appreciated only for its taste but also for the value it generates for people and for the Planet,” explained Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè. “To amplify the positive impact it is necessary to stimulate a change of perspective, a new way of thinking about the use of resources that favour the transition from a linear economic model to a circular one. By working together, with a sense of responsibility, we can drive the transaction towards a sustainable future.”

Although regenerative agriculture is beginning to grow into various sectors, there are still several gaps across the supply chain. “It is still difficult to find farmers who have adopted regenerative practices,” said Ham, “We are very lucky to have partnered with a farmer who’s been doing it for over 30 years.” The tea for Wild Orchid is sourced from a wild tea farm on Jeju Island, where the the plot is nourished by volcanic organic soil.

ReGen Brands podcasters Kyle Krull and Anthony Corsaro labelled 2022 as the year regenerative agriculture took root. They emphasised that for regenerative brands to achieve success and, in turn, long-term sustainability, there needs to be a commitment to developing a regenerative market. They shared that there is a continued need for unified certification and standards to reduce consumer confusion. One recommendation they had was for the brands to work together to create a unified messaging strategy, including finding a way to define their values. Their 17 February podcast spoke with Abianne Falla, cofounder of CatSpring Yaupon, Cat Spring, Texas.

Falla’s company is highly diversified, selling sustainably wild grown yaupon as a wholesale and retail tisane and as an ingredient supplier for those seeking regeneratively grown Yaupon tea. “2011 was the driest year in Texas,” shared Falla on the podcast. “Everything was looking like wilted spinach, the only thing that wasn’t dying was Yaupon. We’ve always known the plant but had no idea that it was anything but a nuisance until this drought.” Yaupon Tea has 11 acres of certified regenerative organic yaupon, all of which are sustainably wild grown.

“Just like in other categories, the main driver for people to switch from the way that they’ve always done it comes from their philosophy,” said Ham. “If they understand that they can make their land better, make the soil better, grow a healthier crop and do it in a way that is sequestering carbon and reversing climate change, but in the end, it comes down to profitability.” Regenerative organic tea and coffee farms are still in their infancy, but the potential for a more resilient crop, resulting in higher yields, better quality products, and higher profits, are strong motivators to adopt these practices.

• Anne-Marie Hardie is a freelance writer, professor and speaker based in Barrie, Ontario. She may be reached at: annemariehardie1@gmail.com.

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Deforestation and forest degradation are major drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss. The goal of the new law – EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) – is to prevent a significant share of global deforestation and forest degradation, and in turn, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.

On 8 February, the NCA (National Coffee Association of the USA) held a webinar, Supply Chain Due Diligence, to discuss the potential impact the EUDR will have on the US coffee industry. However, the webinar benefitted any coffee business in any country interested in importing or exporting coffee (or any of the aforementioned products — tea is not one of them) within the EU. The presenter, Anna Triponel, a lawyer and founder of Human Level, a London-based boutique human rights advisory firm, outlined aspects of the EUDR and discussed how legal expectations for businesses – involving human rights and climate change – are evolving based on the United Nations’ Guiding Principles.

“We are starting to see laws [and international standards] focusing on human rights and climate change,” she said. “Now risk management is not only risk to business but risk to people as well [because] it is clear that a severe risk to people is a risk to business.

Pursuant to the EUDR, Triponel said that businesses must carry out due diligence, which includes conducting risks assessments and mitigating identified risks; obtain geo-location coordinates from where commodities are sourced or harvested; and communicate publicly on actions taken to ensure compliance with the EUDR. She said that there will also be a central information system on companies (operators and traders) established in the EU, which is accessible to national and customs authorities and a benchmarking system that ranks countries as low, standard and high risk for deforestation.

Triponel noted that with the new law, the EU be a very different landscape for companies five years from now. “The EU does not want any goods that are affiliated with deforestation or degradation. Businesses cannot import these goods into the EU unless they can prove the goods are deforestation free.”

She further explained that there will be more focus on ensuring that companies are respecting Indigenous People’s rights and land rights, that is, was deforestation committed and were people’s rights/lands respected?

So where do we now stand? The European Parliament and the Council must formally adopt the new EUDR before it can be enforced. Once the new Regulation has been adopted, businesses (operators and traders) will have 18 months to implement the new rules. Small businesses will be granted a longer adaptation period and other specific provisions.

Triponel said that the EU Commission’s draft of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) from earlier this year sets out an obligation on companies to have a policy. During this ‘waiting period’, companies should be developing their due diligence policy. Triponel said there is text from the EU Parliament as well as the European Council that companies can build on when drafting their CSDDD policy.

In terms of due diligence obligations, the EUDR expects companies to take the following actions:

What: Products of the commodities included in the EUDR can only be placed on, or exported from, the EU if they meet the following requirements:

• Deforestation-free;
• Produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production; and
• Covered by a due diligence statement.

How:

• Compile and ensure access to information on the commodity, quantity, supplier, country of production. For example, companies can obtain the geographic coordinates of the plots of land where the commodities they place on the market were produced.
• Analyse and assess the risks of deforestation and/or forest degradation in the supply chain using the information collected; take adequate and proportionate mitigation measures to address risks.
• Consideration of applicable laws – in particular, human rights laws and Indigenous People’s rights laws.

Caveat: Level of due diligence depends on whether the country is deemed low, standard or high risk.

T&CTJ will continue to cover the adoption, implementation and impact of the EUDR on coffee businesses (as well as tea if it is added to the list of products subject to the new legislation).

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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