The EU’s Deforestation-free products Regulation (EUDR) requires all businesses trading listed products in the EU to demonstrate that their supply chain has not contributed to deforestation or forest degradation. If you’re not sure what a listed product is or whether your business is in scope, we recommend reading this article or watching this 2 min video.
Like most UK businesses with customers in the EU, W. Howard and Meadow Foods need to file Due Diligence Statements to demonstrate that their products are not linked to deforestation in order to keep trading in the EU. Due Diligence Statements are the means by which EUDR will trace listed commodities through the supply chain from extraction to finished goods. For businesses like W. Howard and Meadow Foods that buy batches of raw materials that are combined to make new products, inventory management is the key to being able to complete Due Diligence Statements.
Innovative Energy Consultants helped both companies design and implement EUDR compliance processes by facilitating interactive workshops.
Inviting the right people to each workshop was key. Accurately tracking which raw materials end up in which products requires input from buyers, engineering, operations and sales teams. It’s also important that the organisation knows whose responsibility it is to file Due Diligence Statements and who the point of contact is for customers. We worked with each business to ensure that the right people were invited to each workshop to ensure that all the organisational knowledge needed to create a new compliance system was in the room.
The first part of each workshop was a short seminar describing the legislation and what businesses need to do to comply and keep trading into the EU. This was important as there were various levels of familiarity with EUDR among participants.
“Innovative Energy Consultants’ expertise and insightful guidance proved invaluable in equipping our team with a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory landscape. Their engaging presentation style and depth of knowledge left a lasting impression on all attendees, empowering us to navigate the complexities of the regulations with confidence.”~ Alun Lewis Head of Sustainability, Meadow Foods
Once participants felt confident they understood what the legislation requires, we worked together to document each company’s existing inventory management capabilities and reporting systems. We then facilitated the design of an EUDR compliance process with defined roles and responsibilities. By performing gap analyses we were able to co-create time bound action plans that tied in with existing company initiatives.
“With Innovative Energy Consultants’ support, we were able to create an EUDR action plan that tied in with ongoing improvement projects.” ~ Joseph Rylance QHSE Co-ordinator, W. Howard
Each action was assigned to a named individual, rather than a function, to create a clear sense of ownership. The goal of EUDR is to ensure supply chains are free from materials linked to deforestation. This requires co-operation from every part of the supply chain, often from multiple roles within the same organisation. Innovative Energy Consultants’ philosophy is that sustainability is everybody’s business. This means that we work with your business to ensure that sustainability initiatives are not just left on the Sustainability or HSE Managers desk, but are supported by the organisation as a whole.
Medium and large companies must comply with EUDR by December 30th, 2025 and small and micro businesses by June 30th, 2026. If your business needs help preparing to comply with EUDR, e-mail info@innovative-energy.org, with the subject line “EUDR” and we’ll get back to you to arrange a free consultation within two business days.
If your business needs help kicking off any other sustainability initiative or management of change process, click contact us.
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