How EU environmental protection endangers small farmers and makes coffee more expensive

Coffee beans are mainly grown in Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and Colombia. In contrast to the other products on the EU list such as beef, palm oil and soy, which mostly come from farms with large areas, around three quarters of global coffee bean production is grown by small farmers on fields of less than five hectares. Apart from the fact that very few of these farmers have probably heard of the EU regulation, hardly anyone is in a position to provide the geolocation data required. For coffee exporters, the EU is becoming, if not hostile, at least quite unattractive place. There are already efforts to sell coffee more in Asia, especially in China and India. The number of coffee drinkers there is increasing, especially from the middle class.