{"id":5423,"date":"2026-05-22T08:19:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/?page_id=5423"},"modified":"2026-05-28T08:26:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T06:26:27","slug":"world-of-cocoa-eudr-at-bohnkaf-why-the-real-work-begins-at-origin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/world-of-cocoa-eudr-at-bohnkaf-why-the-real-work-begins-at-origin\/","title":{"rendered":"World of Cocoa: EUDR at Bohnkaf – Why the Real Work Begins at Origin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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World of Cocoa - EUDR at Bohnkaf:\nWhy the Real Work Begins at Origin<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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With the EUDR, a significant share of responsibility is shifting closer to the origin of the supply chain. For importers and processors in Europe, it is no longer enough to assess only the physical quality of a cocoa shipment. Increasingly, the key question is how reliable the documentation behind a shipment actually is and how clearly its origin can be verified.<\/strong><\/p>

In the cocoa sector in particular, it quickly becomes clear that the real challenge does not begin in Europe. Before goods can even be shipped, geodata must be collected, production areas documented, risks assessed, and supporting evidence consolidated across the entire supply chain.<\/strong><\/p>

Geodata as the basis for traceability
<\/span>At Bohnkaf, this process starts before the goods are shipped. Through the Osapiens platform, suppliers receive a so called \u201cPurchase Order Request\u201d. This is a structured request for all geodata that must be linked to a specific shipment. Suppliers can use the platform free of charge and upload the data either through Excel files or formats such as GeoJSON or KML.<\/p>

The requirements for these datasets are extensive. In addition to trade name, region of origin, and shipment volume, the production areas themselves must be clearly documented.<\/p>

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Polygon – deforestation free<\/figcaption><\/figure>

For smaller farms under four hectares, a single geolocation point with sufficient accuracy is acceptable. Larger areas, however, must be mapped as complete polygons so the actual shape of the cultivation area can be verified.<\/p>

In the next step, the geodata is analyzed using satellite based systems. The objective is to determine whether there are potential deforestation risks and whether the areas comply with EUDR requirements. In addition, documentation must confirm that the goods were produced in accordance with the legal requirements of the respective country of origin.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

This includes, among others:
<\/strong>\u2022 Land use rights
\u2022 Environmental and forestry regulations
\u2022 Labour rights and human rights
\u2022 Tax and customs regulations
\u2022 Requirements regarding the protection of indigenous communities<\/p>

Important for Buyers<\/strong>
In the future, not only the goods themselves, but also the quality and completeness of the datasets will become part of the risk assessment.<\/p>

The reality at origin is far more complex<\/span>
In theory, this process often appears far more straightforward than it is in practice. In cocoa producing regions, data collection frequently involves considerable organizational effort. Many exporters and cooperatives work with hundreds of producers at the same time. Geodata is often collected directly in the field using mobile phones. Especially the initial creation of polygon based farm data can be highly time consuming.<\/p>

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Point Data – deforestation risk<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Another challenge is that in many producing countries, only single coordinate points for producers are currently available. For satellite analysis, this creates an additional issue. The system generates a radius around the point, which does not necessarily reflect the actual shape of the plantation. As a result, risks may be flagged outside the real cultivation area.<\/p>

Cases like these show how closely coordination within the supply chain has become. Follow up questions, additional documentation, and further verification steps are now part of daily operations. At the same time, administrative processes before shipment are becoming significantly longer in many cases.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The Biggest Day to Day Challenges:<\/strong>
\u2022 Mapping hundreds of producer farms
\u2022 Missing polygon based data
\u2022 Different technical standards at origin
\u2022 Additional training requirements
\u2022 Delays before shipment<\/p>

Why plausibility checks are becoming more important<\/span>
For importers, the process does not end with simply receiving the data. Increasingly, the focus is also on assessing whether the provided information is plausible and traceable.<\/p>

At Bohnkaf, the data is therefore reviewed additionally. For example, if only limited geodata is available, checks are carried out to determine whether the reported cultivation area could theoretically support the declared shipment volume. Inconsistencies or open questions are discussed directly with suppliers and documented accordingly.<\/p>

This additional layer of verification is becoming increasingly important because the quality of available data still varies significantly depending on the origin, exporter, or cooperative. While some partners already work with complete polygons and structured datasets, others are still in the process of building the necessary systems and workflows.<\/p>

What Is Becoming More Important:<\/strong>
\u2022 Plausibility checks of reported volumes
\u2022 Closer communication with suppliers
\u2022 Traceable documentation
\u2022 Consistent datasets across the supply chain<\/p>

From dataset to Due Diligence Statement<\/span>
If the satellite analysis of the geodata does not reveal any issues, a Due Diligence Statement can be generated through Osapiens. This is then transmitted directly to the EU TRACES portal via interface connection.<\/p>

Depending on the size of the company, customers then receive either the DDS reference number or the complete Due Diligence Statement. At the same time, all submitted data remains stored within the system and fully traceable. Additions or changes are only made upon request and in coordination with the respective suppliers.<\/p>

Step by step, this creates a far more documented and controlled supply chain than was common only a few years ago.<\/p>

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Risk Score Nicaragua<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At the End of the Process:<\/strong>
\u2022 Satellite based risk assessments
\u2022 Documented origin data
\u2022 DDS reference numbers or complete DDS documentation
\u2022 Traceable datasets throughout the supply chain<\/p>

The EUDR is changing collaboration across the supply chain<\/span>
The regulatory requirements of the EUDR are significantly increasing the administrative workload at origin. Many exporters and cooperatives are currently investing substantial resources into data collection, training, and documentation. Especially in regions with smallholder farming structures, this creates additional organizational effort before every shipment.<\/p>

At the same time, collaboration within the supply chain is also changing. Topics such as traceability, geodata, and risk assessment are now coordinated much more closely between producers, exporters, platform providers, and importers than they were only a few years ago.<\/p>

For European buyers, one thing is becoming increasingly important: transparency regarding how processes at origin are actually implemented. In the future, the quality of a supply chain will not be judged solely by the product itself, but increasingly by the reliability of the underlying data, processes, and documentation.<\/p>

The EUDR is therefore changing not only regulatory processes, but also the day to day collaboration across the entire supply chain.<\/strong><\/p>

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Cocoa – Bohnkaf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the EUDR, a significant share of responsibility is shifting closer to the origin of the supply chain. For importers and processors in Europe, it is no longer enough to assess only the physical quality of a cocoa shipment. Increasingly, the key question is how reliable the documentation behind a shipment actually is and how clearly its origin can be verified…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4694,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5423","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5423"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5470,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5423\/revisions\/5470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}