Major coffee companies are turning to satellite technology to comply with modern European Union regulations aimed at preventing deforestation in their supply chains.
Under the EU’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which takes effect at the end of the year, coffee producers and importers must prove that their beans were not grown on land cleared after 2020. Failure to comply could result in severe penalties, including seizure of goods and fines of up to 4 percent of annual turnover.
To meet these requirements, several leading firms — including Dutch conglomerate JDE Peet’s and traders such as Neumann Kaffee Gruppe — have launched the Coffee Canopy Partnership. The initiative uses satellite data from aerospace giant Airbus combined with artificial intelligence models to map coffee-growing regions worldwide and monitor changes in forest cover.
The project is beginning in East Africa, focusing on Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, with plans to expand globally by 2027. Its goal is full traceability of coffee production, and companies say the platform will eventually be accessible to governments and farmers as well.
However, industry representatives warn that millions of smallholder farmers could be excluded from the market if current mapping systems incorrectly classify their farmland as forested areas. They similarly note that the costs of building and operating the satellite monitoring system remain uncertain, though annual expenses are expected to run into the millions.
The regulation applies not only to coffee but also to other commodities such as cocoa, palm oil, and soy.
