India’s High Range Coffee Curing is poised to become the first farm verified by the Rainforest Alliance to ship EUDR–ready coffee beans to Europe later this month.
The coffee farm partnered with the Rainforest Alliance to meet the necessary compliance requirements of the regulation.
Established in 1995, High Range Coffee Curing is located in the Periyapatna and Kushalnagar Coorg districts, among 142 hectares of tropical forests, and is known for its quality beans.
The farm supplies coffee to leading global coffee brands, roasters and traders in India, including Nestlé, Unilever, E-Com Commodities, Olam, Continental Coffee, Louis Dreyfus Company, Vidya Coffee and Allanasons.
EUDR-Ready Coffee
Zaidan M Saly, director of High Range Coffee Curing stated, “Implementing EUDR [EU Deforestation Regulation] posed significant challenges for our team, but with the invaluable guidance from Rainforest Alliance representatives in our region, we overcame them and gained confidence in the process.
“Their expertise made the seemingly daunting task entirely feasible, facilitating a smooth and successful implementation, which now not only guarantees adherence to EUDR regulations but also sparked a revolution in our approach to traceability.”
Rainforest Alliance certification enables coffee and cocoa farmers to opt in for EUDR-aligned criteria.
This allows companies to source from these farms, track ingredients along their supply chains, and leverage farm data to demonstrate compliance with the regulation's deforestation risk assessment and mitigation requirements by the deadline, at no additional cost.
'Sustainable Practices'
Miguel Gamboa, coffee sector lead at the Rainforest Alliance stated, “The EUDR represents an important step forward to shift the global coffee sector towards more sustainable practices.
“Yet, many smallholder coffee farmers need support to align with the requirements, including traceability, deforestation risk mapping, local laws, and practical and technical guidance on key environmental practices.”
The Rainforest Alliance has urged the EU Commission not to dilute or delay the legislation or postpone its deadline in response to calls from some companies and governments.
It has also called on companies not to scale back purchases from smallholder coffee farmers, but rather support them in meeting the deadline of this legislation.
Gamboa added, “We are also piloting a deforestation risk assessment offering for companies buying non-certified coffee and cocoa, which we plan to roll out more widely later this year.
“With this offering, we aim to support more companies in their journey to compliance, but more importantly, to also reach non-certified farmers so their products can still be sold on the EU market.”
