Large & medium operators
From 30 December 2026
Full due-diligence obligations, including submitting the DDS in the EU information system.
Guide
EUDR for Coffee Roasters: What You Need to Know Now
Last updated: 12 June 2026
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires seamless proof for coffee. This guide explains in plain language who it affects, which deadlines apply, and what you, as a German specialty roaster, concretely need — from the DDS reference number to traceability from the green-coffee lot to the bag.
As of June 2026 — check the current deadlines with the EU Commission. Coffee Lab is not legal advice.
In brief
What the EUDR is — for roasters, in a nutshell
The EUDR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115) prohibits placing products linked to deforestation on the EU market. Coffee is one of the commodities covered. The core idea: whoever first brings coffee into the EU must prove that it is deforestation-free and was produced legally in the country of origin — evidenced by a Due-Diligence-Statement (DDS) with geo-coordinates of the growing areas.
Deforestation-free means: the coffee does not come from land that was deforested after 31 December 2020. For each plot of production land, geo-coordinates with at least six decimal places are required. The DDS is submitted in the EU information system TRACES, which issues a unique reference number for it.
Who and from when
Who the EUDR affects — and the deadlines
In December 2025, application was postponed again (Regulation (EU) 2025/2650). The regulation itself already applies — the due-diligence obligations become binding from the following cut-off dates:
Micro & small enterprises
From 30 June 2027
A later deadline and partly simplified obligations — but covered all the same.
Important — your role is decisive: whoever buys green coffee outside the EU themselves and first places it on the EU market is an operator and submits the DDS. A German roaster that buys already customs-cleared green coffee from an EU importer is usually a downstream trader: you do not submit your own DDS, but you must record and retain your supplier’s DDS reference number. This classification must be assessed case by case — Coffee Lab is not legal advice.
In concrete terms
What you need as a roaster, in concrete terms
The DDS reference from your importer
For every green-coffee lot, obtain your supplier’s DDS reference number (and verification code, if any) and store it on the lot. It is your central proof.
A seamless trail: lot → batch → bag
You must be able to show at any time which green-coffee lot a roasted batch — and therefore every bag you sell — comes from. Without a clean mapping, every proof turns into a treasure hunt.
Documentation & retention
Keep the reference numbers and the associated supplier and customer data (for at least five years) and have them ready for BLE inspections.
Step by step
EUDR checklist for roasters
- Clarify your role: operator (your own import) or downstream trader (purchase from an EU importer)?
- For every green-coffee lot, request your supplier’s DDS reference number.
- Store the reference number on the corresponding green-coffee lot in your system.
- Link every roast batch to its green-coffee lot — and every bag to its batch.
- Retain reference numbers, supplier and customer data for at least five years in a traceable, tamper-resistant way.
- Make sure you can trace a lot from the bag back to its origin in minutes on request.
- Keep an eye on the deadlines and regularly check the current status with the EU Commission and the BLE.
Tooling
How Coffee Lab helps
Coffee Lab does not handle the EUDR for you — but it builds the data foundation that lets you face the documentation obligations with confidence.
DDS reference on the green-coffee lot
Store your importer’s DDS reference number directly on the green-coffee lot — right where it belongs.
Product passport & traceability, lot → bag
Once you create the lot and batch in Coffee Lab, the link is there instantly — the QR code on the bag leads to the product passport. A clean trail instead of paper shuffling.
Export at the touch of a button
Export the relevant data for your documentation and inspections — cleanly structured instead of scraped together.
Coffee Lab prepares you for the EUDR documentation obligations. It does not replace a legal review — Coffee Lab is not legal advice.
Honest answers
Frequently asked questions about the EUDR
Do I have to submit a DDS as a roaster?
That depends on your role. Whoever buys green coffee outside the EU themselves and first places it on the EU market is an operator and must submit a Due-Diligence-Statement (DDS). Whoever buys already customs-cleared green coffee from an EU importer is usually a downstream trader: you generally do not submit your own DDS, but you must record and retain your supplier’s DDS reference number. When in doubt, check your specific role — this is not legal advice.
What is a DDS reference number?
When an operator submits a Due-Diligence-Statement in the EU information system (TRACES), the system generates a unique reference number. Downstream traders such as many roasters do not submit a statement of their own, but instead collect and retain this reference number from their supplier — it is the proof that the due-diligence obligation has been met for the lot.
What happens if the EUDR is breached?
Die EUDR sieht abschreckende Sanktionen vor (Art. 25): Geldbußen von mindestens 4 % des EU-weiten Jahresumsatzes, Einziehung der betroffenen Erzeugnisse und der erzielten Einnahmen, befristeter Ausschluss von öffentlichen Aufträgen und Förderungen sowie der Verlust des Zugangs zur vereinfachten Sorgfaltspflicht. In Deutschland kontrolliert die Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE).
Does the EUDR also apply to small roasters?
Yes. Micro and small enterprises are covered too — they merely have a later deadline and partly simplified obligations. Following the December 2025 postponement, the EUDR applies to large and medium operators from 30 December 2026, and to micro and small enterprises from 30 June 2027.
What does the geolocation requirement mean for coffee?
For each plot of production land, geographic coordinates with at least six decimal places must be available. The coffee must be deforestation-free, i.e. it must not come from land that was deforested after 31 December 2020. As a rule, the operator supplies this data via the DDS; as a downstream roaster, what you mainly need is the reference number and a clean mapping of lot → batch → bag.
Traceability that gets you prepared
Want to see how Coffee Lab maps the trail from the green-coffee lot to the bag? Get to know the platform — as a pilot roaster, you help shape what comes next.
References
Sources
As of June 2026. The deadlines have been postponed several times — before making important decisions, check the current status with the EU Commission and the BLE.