EU Mandates Satellite Monitoring for Coffee Giants to Combat Deforestation in Supply Chains

Global coffee traders are deploying satellite technology and artificial intelligence to monitor deforestation risks in their supply chains as new European Union regulations tighten environmental compliance requirements.

The initiative, known as the Coffee Canopy Partnership, brings together major coffee companies including JDE Peet’s, Tchibo, Louis Dreyfus Company, Neumann Kaffee Group, Touton, and Sucafina to implement satellite-based monitoring systems.

Using satellite imagery from Airbus combined with AI models, the system maps coffee-growing landscapes in detail to identify where farms intersect with forest areas or zones of recent forest loss.

The rollout begins in East Africa, covering Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda—regions that form a critical part of the global coffee supply and rely heavily on smallholder farming systems.

The push for advanced monitoring comes as the EU Deforestation Regulation introduces strict traceability requirements for agricultural commodities, barring companies from selling coffee in the EU if it is grown on land classified as forest after December 2020.

Under the regulation, companies must provide precise geolocation data for farms and verify that production has not driven deforestation, shifting the burden of proof onto businesses.

The initiative aims to help companies comply with environmental regulations while maintaining access to key sourcing regions, with full global coverage targeted by 2027.

Large companies are expected to comply first, with smaller businesses following by mid-2027, as the regulation creates both compliance risk and operational complexity across the supply chain.