decor background decor background
Loading...
decor image decor image

blog

Space data for coffee?!

Why Coffee?

One of the commodity verticals we do a lot of work with at Trade in Space is coffee.

We have heritage in providing geospatial services, analytics, reporting and monitoring of coffee supply-chains and their sustainability and environmental factors. Coffee may seem like an unlikely focus for a space-tech start up from Scotland, keep reading to find out more about the growing use-cases for technology solutions within this sector.

Coffee is more than just a vital part of our morning routine, around 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed across the world every day. The Fairtrade Foundation estimates there are 125 million coffee growers in over 50 countries on the so-called ‘Bean Belt’ who directly rely upon it for their livelihood. And yet, coffee is predicted to be one of the agricultural commodities most affected by climate change. It is estimated that regions currently highly suited for coffee growing will decrease by 50% by 2050. For example, in 2021 an unseasonably severe frost swept Brazil, and damaged up to 80% of farms’ growing areas, this caused significant price volatility in the market.

Climate vulnerability is often linked to tree-removal; indeed, coffee has been identified as one of the key commodities consumed by the EU and UK which directly impacts deforestation. The EU have just agreed to tackle their responsibility for global deforestation by introducing new laws which will ban the import of key commodities, including coffee, which originates from deforested land.

For a product like coffee that’s journey from tree to cup can be complex; tracing and verifying the supply chain journey to the farm, and then monitoring that farm asset for deforestation and identifying the sustainability impact, or climate vulnerability presents a challenge for most participants in the supply-chain.

To address these challenges, Trade in Space has developed solutions which utilise remote-sensing, machine learning and complimentary environmental data, that is neatly presented on a desktop visualisation platform called Sustainimaps. Additionally, Digitrak is an android mobile application which when combined with Sustainimaps creates a truly accessible, end-to-end sustainability verification tool which help our clients prepare for the law changes, and enact their own corporate sustainability policies.

decor image decor

SUBSCRIBE

Don't want to miss a thing? Subscribe to the Trade in Space mailing list to be the first to hear how we’re using satellite intelligence and blockchain technology to make supply chains sustainable, transparent, and traceable.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

  • Evidence of Smallholders Losing Access to Market

    Read More
  • UKDR: Deforestation Regulation Announcement from UK

    Read More
  • Early EUDR Preparation

    Read More