How does the EUDR affect businesses? What should you consider? Here, two Swedish companies share their respective experiences in interpreting the legislation, training suppliers, collaborating in the industry and the need for good system support.
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aims to reduce the impact of global deforestation and protect the world's forests. It sets requirements for the value chain linked to wood, soy, rubber, coffee, cocoa, palm oil and cattle products.
Companies covered by the EUDR will need to carry out supplier due diligence and report the results in declarations from December 30, 2025. They will also need to provide geo-coordinates of cultivation.
Two Companies with Different Perspectives
What do Swedish companies say about the legislation? What are the main challenges? How are they preparing? And what opportunities are there from a business perspective?
We spoke to two companies with very different businesses to hear their perspectives and experiences. Logistics company PostNord and coffee producer Arvid Nordquist are both affected by the EUDR but in very different ways. Both have taken a holistic approach to ensure they work in accordance with the new directive.
Geocoordinates - Something new
A fundamental question is how companies can prepare for the new legislation.
Beatrice Wahlström works with sustainability at Arvid Nordquist:
- We started by mapping our product portfolio. We are food distributors with coffee as our main product, which is a risk commodity under the regulations. Therefore, we need to make sure that our products do not come from deforested land. This led to a lot of preparatory work internally and with our suppliers to understand how we should work with due diligence, risk analysis and geo-mapping.
For Arvid Nordquist, the conditions were unusually good, as the company has already been working with traceability in its value chain for many years.
- Since 2014, Arvid Nordquist has been buying 100% sustainable, certified coffee, which is in itself traceable. For this reason, traceability itself is nothing new to us. For us, the big change was more about starting to work with geo-mapping of the specific coffee farms we buy the coffee from. To comply with the EUDR, we need to be able to ensure that the specific location from which the coffee is harvested is deforestation-free. It is about being able to trace the coffee to the right geo-coordinates throughout the chain, to be able to report that a certain end product comes from a specific location on a deforestation-free coffee farm.
Beatrice Wahlström, Sustainability & Communication, Arvid Nordquist
Fast Pace to Keep up
At PostNord, the challenge linked to EUDR looks different. Like many companies, it's a matter of identifying how the company is covered and what measures need to be taken.
Malin Möller works as Supply Chain Sustainability Manager at PostNord:
- It has been a fast-paced process to identify how we at PostNord are covered by the legislation and which products it applies to. This is something I have done together with legal, but also by involving and training key people in the organization and the companies. By involving more people, they have in turn been able to take the issue further in their organizations to see what needs to be done. "It's really important to get everyone involved because there are so many people affected.
With the EUDR, the focus is on the products. Despite this, it quickly became clear that it also affects a service company like PostNord in several ways.
- Even though we are a service company, we are affected by the EUDR, especially in the parts of our business where we procure products. We are in the middle of the value chain and also have our own range of products, which means that the requirements for traceability and responsibility in the supply chain also apply to us. It has become clear that the EUDR does not only affect producers and importers, but also us who have an important role in the logistics and distribution chain.
Malin Möller, Supply Chain Sustainability Manager, Postnord
Great Help from the Industry
Regardless of the type of business, an important aspect of EUDR is the dialog with suppliers and customers. Cooperation plays a key role for a company like Arvid Nordquist, says Beatrice:
- We work a lot with our suppliers. Together we try to understand how to meet the requirements of the regulations.
For Arvid Nordquist, cooperation within the industry has also been a great help in the preparation work. "It is a long, close and mutual relationship that has been built.
- We are members of the European Coffee Federation, a trade organization that represents the European coffee industry. There we are all in the same boat and are keen to succeed in compliance with the EUDR. Together, the industry helps to compile data and interpret legislation. This can include, for example, what reporting requirements the regulations impose on us. We don't want to risk under-reporting and being subject to high fines, but we also don't want to spend too much money and report more than required.
This trade-off in terms of what is required is something that Malin at PostNord also recognizes from her own business. She emphasizes the value of knowing your supply chain and having mutual trust:
- It may not be realistic to verify every single geodata point in detail. Therefore, the long-term business relationship - built on mutual trust - becomes crucial. It's not just about efficiency, but also about reducing risk. It is much easier to work with suppliers who understand these issues, have a long-term perspective and where there is a basis for trust and cooperation.
EUDR Requires Robust Systems
Last but not least, system support and digitalization play a crucial role in EUDR compliance. This is something that Beatrice at Arvid Nordquist endorses:
- For interventions to be commercially sustainable, they need to be underpinned by robust systems throughout the chain. For those of us operating in growing countries, this can be an extra challenge. Pen and paper may be the rule on the ground, making digitization all the more important to ensure that the coffee comes from a deforestation-free area. Without digitization, more handwork is required during production. There is also a risk of increased production costs due to reduced efficiency.
Start on Time!
How should companies think about the fact that the EUDR has been postponed for a year and that implementation will take place at the end of the year? Both PostNord and Arvid Nordquist agree that it may be a welcome respite for many, but that it is therefore extra important to use the time to prepare.
Malin at PostNord believes that many companies still have a lot to learn to prepare for the new legislation:
- The EUDR is in many ways a forgotten piece of legislation - many people still don't know about it, especially in the service sector. It is something suppliers really need to start familiarizing themselves with well in advance. For organizations that have been working on sustainability issues for a long time, it gives them a head start. With knowledge of the legal requirements, they can link them to business benefits and thereby strengthen their position in the market.
Want to know more about the EUDR? Then we recommend our knowledge article, "The EU Deforestation Directive (EUDR) - How companies are affected and how to prepare".
