Build In-House or Partner? Making the Right Traceability Decision in an Era of EUDR, CSRD, and CSDDD
- Gusi Ayu Putri Chandrika Sari
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
Editor’s note:
As global sustainability and due diligence regulations accelerate, agribusinesses are under growing pressure to demonstrate transparent, deforestation‑free, and compliant supply chains. This article explores a strategic question many organizations face today: whether to build traceability systems internally or partner with a specialized provider. Drawing on practical experience across regulated agricultural supply chains, this piece offers guidance from Michael Saputra, our Head of Data Collection & Climate, to help decision‑makers choose an approach that balances compliance, scalability, and long‑term resilience.
Executive Summaries:
Global regulations such as EUDR, CSDDD, CSRD, and FSMA are reshaping how agribusinesses manage traceability, data, and risk.
While building an in‑house traceability system offers control and customization, it often requires significant investment, time, and ongoing regulatory expertise.
Partnering with a specialized traceability and compliance provider can accelerate readiness, reduce compliance risk, and enable organizations to focus on core operations.
When Regulation Reshapes Strategy: Choosing the Right Compliance Model
The right solution depends on business scale, internal capabilities, and long‑term strategy but for most agribusinesses, partnership delivers speed, expertise, and future‑proof compliance.
The global agricultural sector is entering a new phase, one shaped by stringent regulatory requirements. Frameworks like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) have moved firmly into the core of business decision‑making. They now sit at the core of market access, risk management, and long‑term business viability.
For producers, exporters, and agribusinesses, compliance now directly determines whether products can enter and remain in key markets. Yet many organizations are still working with disconnected systems, manual workflows, or legacy tools that were never built for today’s regulatory demands. As expectations grow, from geolocation and supplier verification to due‑diligence disclosures and risk analysis, compliance becomes harder to manage without dedicated capabilities.
The reality is that navigating today’s regulatory environment is demanding, even for well‑resourced organizations. While some companies have basic systems in place, many still struggle with fragmented data, legacy system, outdated technology, and the increasingly complex demands of global compliance standards. Without deep regulatory and technical expertise, small gaps in interpretation or execution can quickly translate into compliance risk, whether through delayed shipments, lost market access, or reputational exposure. Misinterpretations or oversights could easily lead to non-compliance, resulting in serious consequences: delayed shipments, financial penalties, loss of market opportunities, or reputational damage.
Against this backdrop, companies face a critical strategic decision: should they build traceability systems in‑house, or partner with a specialized compliance and traceability provider?
This is where partnering with specialized service and tools providers experts are not about outsourcing responsibility, but about building resilience and focus. At Koltiva, we have seen how the right combination of domain expertise, digital infrastructure, and local execution can transform compliance from a defensive obligation into a source of long‑term advantage. Let’s explore how the right partnership can turn compliance from a burden into a competitive advantage.
Pros and Cons: Build In-House or Partner with a Compliance Provider?
Building an In‑House Traceability System
Choosing between developing an in-house traceability system and partnering with a compliance provider depends on your business’s needs, resources, and long-term strategy.
Building an in-house solution gives you a high degree of control and customization, allowing you to tailor the system to your exact workflows. However, this approach comes with significant challenges i.e., high upfront development costs, lengthy implementation timelines, and the ongoing burden of maintaining internal technical expertise. Regulatory frameworks evolve rapidly, meaning systems must be continuously updated to remain compliant, adding long‑term operational and financial burden. For many organizations, maintaining this level of internal capability is difficult to sustain.
Partnering with a Compliance and Traceability Provide
Partnering with a trusted compliance provider offers a different value proposition. Proven platforms can be deployed more quickly, incorporate regulatory requirements by design, and evolve alongside changing legislation. Dedicated support teams, sector‑specific knowledge, and pre‑configured compliance workflows reduce both implementation risk and internal workload.
While some solutions may require adaptation to fit specific use cases, the trade-off is often worth it: reduced regulatory risk, lower long-term costs, and the ability to focus on core operations rather than software maintenance. For most agribusinesses, partnering allows teams to focus on their core operations, sourcing, production, and market growth, rather than software development and regulatory interpretation.
Ultimately, the decision hinges on whether your business prioritizes total customization or speed, expertise, and scalability. For most agribusinesses, a proven compliance partner delivers the most efficient path to meeting regulatory demands while future-proofing operations. In a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, many companies find that partnership provides the most resilient path forward.
Key Considerations on Choosing the Right Compliance Partner
Selecting the right compliance and traceability provider is a strategic decision that impacts your ability to meet regulations efficiently and sustainably. When evaluating potential partners, prioritize these critical factors:
Proven Sector-Specific Expertise
Seek providers with demonstrated experience in your particular commodity sector, whether its coffee, palm oil, cocoa, rubber, timber, or multi commodity) and regional operations. Their knowledge of local supply chains and regulatory landscapes is invaluable for effective compliance.
Seamless Integration with Your Operations
The ideal provider offers a system that integrates smoothly with your existing systems, such as ERP or farm management software, ensuring efficient data flow without disrupting day-to-day workflows.
Future-Proof Compliance
Regulations will continue to evolve. Prioritize providers partners who proactively update their systems to reflect changing regulations, offering comprehensive support for due diligence reporting and advanced risk management capabilities, aligned with emerging requirements.
Data Security & Scalability
Ensure the provider follows auditable data security standards and privacy standards (e.g., GDPR, ISO) and can scale with your business, accommodating more suppliers, farms, geographic coverage, or markets as needed.
Reliable Support & Implementation
Beyond technology, The strong partner provides hands-on training, responsive technical assistance, and rapid deployment without overburderning or requiring heavy IT resources from your internal team.
A strong compliance partner goes beyond software delivery, supporting how organizations manage risk, adapt to regulation, and make informed commercial decisions.
Why Koltiva is Your Trusted Expert Partners for Complex Regulatory Challenges?
Navigating complex agricultural supply chains while meeting stringent regulations can feel overwhelming. With numerous actors involved, from smallholder producers, suppliers, manufacturer, mills, to international buyers, data collection becomes fragmented, manual processes slow you down, and compliance risks multiply. As regulatory expectations increase, manual processes and disconnected data create bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and compliance risk.
Koltiva transforms these challenges through KoltiTrace, an end‑to‑end traceability and compliance management system designed specifically for agricultural supply chains. Built on a modular approach, our KoltiTrace MIS provides an end-to-end solution that simplifies compliance, it supports regulatory requirements such as EUDR while remaining adaptable to diverse operational contextsComplemented by our Koltiva’s boots‑on‑the‑ground field teams (KoltiSkills), the solution bridges digital systems with on‑the‑ground realities. Here what we brings to the table:
Streamlined Data Collection & Management
From farm to buyer, KoltiTrace provides end‑to‑end visibility across the supply chain, bringing supplier data, geospatial information, and transaction records into one integrated system. This consolidated approach supports compliance with regulations such as EUDR while improving data quality, reducing manual errors, and enabling credible, auditable reporting. By streamlining how compliance data is captured and managed, organizations can meet regulatory expectations more efficiently while building confidence with buyers and regulators alike.
Automated Compliance Reporting
KoltiTrace automatically generating accurate Due Diligence Statements and other compliance documents. Our system ensures all reports are based on verified, real-time data, enhancing transparency for regulators, buyers, and partners.
Seamless System Integration
We designed KoltiTrace to work with your existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and farm management systems. This means you can enhance compliance tracking without disrupting your current operations or investing in costly infrastructure changes.
Global Agriculture Expertise
With hands-on experience across 63 crops and commodities in 97+ countries, Koltiva brings practical, field-tested agricultural insight and knowledge to every solution. Our team understands your unique compliance and helping compliance challenges with confidence worldwide.
“Technology doesn’t guarantee compliance. It only works when digital systems truly reflect what is happening in the field. That’s why we connect farm mapping, supplier verification, and transaction data into one auditable flow, supported by local teams who verify the information at its source. Without that connection between digital systems and on-the-ground realities, compliance simply doesn’t hold,” said Michael Saputra, our Head of Data Collection & Climate.
Ready to Build a Stronger, Compliance-Ready Supply Chain?
As sustainability and due‑diligence rules increasingly shape global trade, traceability has become part of how companies manage risk and protect market access. When done well, it supports clearer oversight of supply chains, stronger engagement with suppliers, and more consistent performance across regulatory environments.
Organizations are taking different paths, some building internal capabilities, others working with external partners but the common thread among those succeeding is a long‑term view. Compliance is treated less as a reporting exercise and more as an investment in operational resilience and competitiveness. For many, working with an experienced traceability provider offers a practical way to keep pace with evolving requirements while staying focused on core business priorities.
For organizations assessing how to strengthen their traceability and compliance approach, Koltiva works alongside teams to evaluate needs and identify solutions that fit their operational realities. Talk to our experts to discover how KoltiTrace can be tailored to fit your operations. Book a demo today and see how our solution works for your specific needs.
Author: Gusi Ayu Putri Chandrika Sari, Social Media Practitioner at KOLTIVA
Gusi Ayu Putri Chandrika Sari combines her expertise in digital marketing and social media with a deep commitment to sustainability, supported by over eight years of experience in communications. Her work focuses on crafting impactful narratives that connect technology, agriculture, and environmental responsibility. She is driven by a passion for promoting sustainable practices through compelling, audience-focused content across a variety of digital platforms.
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