LCA / ISO 14040 / ISO 14044
Life Cycle Assessment
Convert product data into environmental evidence for buyers, EPDs, product carbon footprint and reduction decisions.
Industry
Environmental evidence for coffee competing in international markets
We structure coffee environmental data for buyers, differentiation, impact reduction and water management.
Industry context
Coffee is one of the commodities covered by the EUDR: every lot entering the EU must be linked to geolocated plots and accompanied by a due diligence statement demonstrating that it is deforestation-free after 31 December 2020. Life Cycle Assessment studies consistently show that most environmental impacts occur during cultivation and primary processing, while ocean freight generally represents a much smaller share of the carbon footprint. As a result, buyers and roasters increasingly focus their data requests on farming practices, traceability and upstream environmental performance.
Pressures
What usually triggers the need
In order of priority, the pressures that lead this industry to look for environmental evidence
- 01
International buyers
Importers and roasters that make environmental data a condition of purchase.
- 02
Carbon footprint
Pressure to quantify and reduce farm, processing and transport emissions.
- 03
Water and traceability
High water use in processing and the need to trace every lot's origin.
Outcomes
What this industry needs to achieve
- Answer requestsReply to buyer questionnaires with verifiable data, on time.
- Compare processesMeasure washed, honey or natural to decide on impact and cost.
- Reduce impactsSpot where to cut emissions and water without hurting cup quality.
Sector keys
What you should keep in mind
The standards, requirements and buyer demands that now set the environmental agenda for this sector
EUDR geolocation
Green coffee exported to the EU needs GPS coordinates for each plot and proof of no deforestation after 31 Dec 2020; the scope is expected to extend to derived products such as soluble coffee.
Processing water
Wet processing (fermentation and washing) is the main water-consumption and wastewater hotspot; an ISO 14046 water footprint documents both, and specialty buyers increasingly ask for it.
Emissions hotspot
For the carbon footprint (ISO 14067), farm and processing dominate the result far more than ocean transport, so that is where mitigation and data effort belong.
Coffee is not in CBAM
CBAM applies only to cement, steel, aluminium, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen; for coffee the binding EU lever is the EUDR, not a carbon border tariff.
Applicable services
Priority solutions for this industry
Product / ISO 14067
Product carbon footprint
Calculate and document product carbon footprint for customers, Scope 3 supply chains and international markets.
Water / ISO 14046
Water footprint
Assess water impacts of products, processes or organizations to manage risk, water and environmental performance.
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