Register now: Responsible Sourcing Summit

Register now: On 8 October 2026, OroVerde – The Tropical Forest Foundation and SÜDWIND are hosting the Responsible Sourcing Summit 2026 in Cologne as part of the BioFinCas and DigiDeFree projects.

This one-day, English-language event offers small and medium-sized enterprises in the coffee and cocoa sectors the opportunity to exchange ideas with other stakeholders, learn about practical examples and work together to develop solutions for resilient, biodiversity-friendly and deforestation-free supply chains.

Event information „Responsible Sourcing Summit“

Date: 8 October 2026
Time: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, evening networking from 4.30 pm
Venue: die wohngemeinschaft, Richard-Wagner-Straße 39, 50674 Cologne
Language: English
Moderator: Conny Czymoch
Organisers: OroVerde – The Tropical Forest Foundation and SÜDWIND as part of the BioFinCas and DigiDeFree projects.

Agenda

09:30 am Arrival, Coffee & Reception
10:00 am Opening Remarks
10:15 am What is currently moving the coffee and cocoa sector?
Social Aspects in coffee and cocoa production/living income (Ashlee Tuttleman, VOCAL Network)
Youth and migration: Example of the Dominican Republic (Javier Almonte, Centro para la Educación y Acción Ecológica Naturaleza)
Relevance of biodiversity for coffee and cocoa (Hugo Enrique Reyes Aldana, The Thünen-Institute)
Due Diligence and beyond (Philipp Kauffman, Original Beans)
GEPA’s reaction on the Empowering Consumers Directive (EmpCo) (Andrea Fütterer, GEPA Barbara Schimmelpfennig, GEPA)
01:00 pm Lunch Break
02:00 pm Best Practices of Sharing Responsibility: How does my value chain function?
03:00 pm Breakout Sessions on:
Barriers towards sharing responsibility
Communication on biodiversity efforts in the light of EmpCo
Financial solutions supporting smallholders
Exchange on EUDR implementation in SME value chains
04:00 pm Recap and Closing Session
04:30 pm Open Networking Event at Brauhaus Pütz, Engelbertstraße 67, 50674 Cologne

The partners for this event are OroVerde and Südwind as part of the projects BioFinCas and DigiDeFree.

The summit is dedicated to the key challenges currently facing the coffee and cocoa sectors. The focus is on protecting biodiversity in cultivation, the resilience of supply chains, producers and cooperatives, livelihood-sustaining incomes, and current regulatory requirements such as the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Supply Chains (EUDR) and the Directive on Strengthening Consumer Rights (EmpCo). Particular emphasis is placed on the question of how responsibility for the social and environmental challenges within the value chain can be addressed collectively.

In addition, there will be an opportunity to learn more about the work and products of the cooperatives from Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic with whom we collaborate on various projects, whilst establishing potential business contacts and sampling selected products.

The event will conclude with an informal networking evening, providing an opportunity for further exchange and in-depth discussion with stakeholders from the international coffee and cocoa sectors.