DCF Methodology Approach & Guidance

  • Independently reviewed by Control Union Malaysia

A cross-commodity methodology for Deforestation- and Conversion-Free (DCF) supply chains

Satelligence's approach to Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) DCF pathways across commodities

Commodity-driven conversion approach (1)

Commodity-Driven Conversion Approach

Pinpoint deforestation linked directly to specific crops using proprietary and updated planted crop maps.

Cross-commodity application (1)

Cross-Commodity Application

Apply one consistent methodology across palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, and other forest and non-forest risk commodities. 

Flexible traceability pathways (1)

Flexible Traceability Pathways

Assess DCF performance from plot-level data to jurisdictional analysis, with clear flowcharts for each route.

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CGF PATHWAY C

Traceability-led pathway

  • When traceability to sourcing areas is available via plot polygons, they are used as production boundaries. Satelligence overlays these with ecosystem baselines and D&C areas, and calculates verified DCF percentages at plot, facility or supplier level.

CGF PATHWAY C

Commodity-driven pathway

  • Where traceability to plot boundaries is partial or not yet available, Satelligence applies commodity-specific planted crop layers (e.g. palm, soy, cocoa, coffee, rubber) to define crop production areas within the relevant sourcing area. These are then overlaid with the Satelligence Forest and Natural Ecosystem Baseline and detected deforestation and conversion (D&C) to identify commodity-linked change, and aggregated into DCF % for the relevant production or sourcing area (e.g. plot cluster, supply shed, landscape or mill radius).
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CGF PATHWAY B

Defined area pathway

  • Where neither plot level traceability nor a validated Satelligence planted crop layer is available, the DCF logic is applied to a broader defined area proxy, such as crop distribution datasets, to represent likely crop presence within the sourcing area.
Dive deeper into the methodology
PepsiCo logo (1)

Sustainability Report 2025

"We collaborated with Satelligence [...] to help improve our capability to monitor deforestation events, detect and respond to early alerts and verify origins as deforestation-free in our palm oil (global coverage), sugarcane (Mexico) and cocoa (Brazil, Mexico) supply chains."

Read the full report
Lindt logo (1)

Annual Report 2025

“Since 2023 we have worked with Satelligence to more accurately monitor and detect deforestation within or around mapped farms in the Farming Program. Their tool provides deforestation detection data, deforestation risk assessments (with transparent and externally audited methodology), and carbon-emission quantification as a result of land-use change.”

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