As of: March 12, 2024, 3:35 p.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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The German coffee association warns that coffee could become scarce next year.
Manufacturers are also concerned.
The EU Commission contradicts this.
Hamburg/Berlin – The coffee supply in Germany and Europe could be at risk from 2025.
The reason for this is a new EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains, representatives of the coffee industry are currently warning.
According to the directive, companies will in future have to submit a due diligence declaration that no forest was cleared or damaged to produce their product after December 31, 2020.
Anyone who does not comply with this must expect high penalties - as the penalty is at least four percent of the annual turnover achieved in the EU.
The regulation not only targets raw materials such as cocoa or coffee beans, but also secondary products such as chocolate, leather or furniture.
“
We are threatened with an undersupply on the German and European markets,” the German Coffee Association told the
German
Press
Agency
(dpa).
The prices for the coffee that is still available could “increase significantly”.
Industry association warns: “Currently only around 20 percent of coffee farmers meet the requirements”
The German Coffee Association, which represents around 360 companies and organizations, says it supports the content of the regulation.
However, it will not be possible to fully provide the data required by the European Union by the end of this year.
“Currently only around 20 percent of farmers meet the requirements,” said the managing director of the coffee association, Holger Preibisch, to the
German Press Agency
.
He is therefore calling for the application of the EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains to be postponed.
Otherwise, the existence of millions of coffee farmers around the world would be threatened.
On Friday, the
Grocery Newspaper
reported on the fears that had been raised in the coffee industry.
The German Coffee Association is calling for the entry into force of the EU regulation to be postponed
Preibisch also complains about the bureaucratic effort that is likely to arise from the new regulation on deforestation-free supply chains.
Both traders who import coffee and purchasing roasters would have to carry out a risk assessment of the data for each new delivery and forward it to the EU.
However, due to the political structures in some producing countries, it is sometimes difficult to even obtain detailed information.
There is still a lack of a suitable interface for this.
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The German Coffee Association fears that coffee could become scarce in 2025.
© imago
Preibisch is therefore calling for the application of the EU regulation to be postponed.
Otherwise, the existence of millions of coffee farmers globally would be threatened.
The Grocery Newspaper
had already
reported on the association's concerns on Friday.
Coffee manufacturers also criticize the new EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains
In addition to the industry association, some large coffee manufacturers have already raised objections to the new EU regulation.
For example, Johannes Dengler, a member of the management team at Dallmayr, called the associated bureaucratic hurdles a “grotesque administrative burden” – for both coffee farmers and companies.
A big problem is that the new regulation at EU level means that small farmers, who are already far away from the European market, are cut off even more from it.
This could affect coffee farmers from countries like Ethiopia in the future.
The coffee roasters Lavazza, Melitta and Darboven said they wanted to comply with EU law, but they would need more time to implement it.
“The consequences will be a clear shortage in the supply of green coffee and prices will rise as a result,” said a spokeswoman for Darboven.
The EU Commission does not see the coffee supply in Germany and Europe at risk
The EU Commission considers the concerns of manufacturers and industry associations to be little justified.
In response to a dpa query, the Commission said that so far there was no indication that the new EU regulation would increase prices for coffee products and other foods.
Only very slight price changes are expected for the raw materials covered by the new regulation.
The Commission also emphasized that supporting small farmers is a priority.
The new law does not discriminate against producers from third countries and there is no hidden trade restriction for them within the regulation.
In November 2021, the EU Commission proposed a regulation on deforestation-free supply chains.
As part of this, she also examined the potential impacts that the project could have.
As a result, the Commission concluded that the costs to companies of the new rule were significantly lower than the expected benefits.
These include access to the EU market and possible increased demand for sustainable products, the Commission said.
In addition, small businesses in particular would have more time to prepare for the new law.
(fh)