We know the coffee production locations
Before any coffee is shipped to Europe, we make sure to receive all geolocations of the plots of land where the coffee was produced. These are polygons for farms bigger than 4ha and geolocation points for farms smaller than 4 ha. For coffee shipped to countries outside the European Union (EU), the coffee will not be sold as EUDR-compliant and thus not come with any geolocations or deforestation checks. On request, however, we can provide EU-compliant coffee also to customers outside the EU.
We conduct deforestation assessments
To ensure the coffee that reaches the EU market has not contributed to deforestation, Blaser Trading is working with Enveritas. The Enveritas Deforestation Detection System is able to identify areas in each country where forest has been converted into coffee after the end of 2020. The production locations of the coffee purchased by Blaser Trading are systematically evaluated using this system.
We assess the risks
As part of our corporate due-diligence, we assess on an annual basis environmental, social and governance risks along our supply chain. Measures to mitigate possible risks, also regarding the risk of clearing forests and the degradation of natural ecosystems, are defined respectively.
We collaborate
Collaboration with coffee producers, exporters and other stakeholders in the producing country is important to us. In the case of a deforestation incident, we will carefully investigate and seek the best possible supporting measures.
More on Enveritas and the Declaration in Excess Approach
In addition to the possibility of assessing specific geolocalized plots, Enveritas also offers the option of assessing deforestation without full traceability. A special approach was developed for this purpose, the so-called declaration in excess approach. Considering the fact that Blaser Trading sources a large part of its coffee from independent smallholders who still struggle with the traceability requirements of the EUDR, this approach is very welcome. The declaration in excess approach allows coffee suppliers to focus on the root causes of deforestation, i.e. to engage in a dialog with local authorities and the coffee farmers who have deforested their land. The declaration in excess approach only applies to the countries or territories officially notified by Enveritas. In countries where this approach cannot be applied, deforestation assessments will be conducted based on the geolocations of coffee farms.