Verify for Deforestation and Conversion-Free (DCF) commitments helps you identify deforestation or conversion risks within your palm supply chain, across forests and non-forest ecosystems, such as savannahs and wetlands.

However, results are only as good as the data inserted, and several issues can prevent that this data to trace commodities back to the plantation is available. 

Limited access to farm-level data

Fragmented supplier tiers and reluctance to share data make traceability to the plantation through farm mapping impractical for most downstream companies.

Unstable and informal supply chains

Unstable and constantly shifting supply relationships make static mapping ineffective. 

Without a stable sourcing pattern, traditional mapping becomes obsolete almost as soon as it’s completed. 

High cost and upkeep burden

Mapping every farm is expensive, and frequent updates to keep pace with changes make it unsustainable at scale. They need to be updated to remain accurate due to farm turnover, changes in planting areas, or supplier switching.

Supply sheds provide a practical solution to overcome these challenges and obtain the high-quality data necessary for trusted risk assessments.

What are supply sheds?

A supply shed is a geographically defined sourcing area that provides raw materials to a specific facility, trader, or market. Instead of tracing every product back to an individual farm, supply sheds focus on the broader catchment zone where suppliers operate. For example, a supply shed may represent all smallholders and/or industrial concessions that deliver fresh fruit bunches to a particular cooperative or mill.

Sustainability risk assessments, even when lacking precise farm-level data

This approach is especially valuable in industries where many smallholders lack mapped farm boundaries or digital records, allowing companies to group suppliers regionally and conduct meaningful sustainability risk assessments even when precise farm-level data is unavailable.

Cost-effective monitoring

Supply sheds function by integrating spatial data with supply chain information to define potential areas that supply raw materials to a facility, such as a mill or trader. This enables companies to monitor entire supply sheds or landscapes more quickly and cost-effectively than building farm-level traceability from the outset, thereby facilitating larger-scale sustainability coverage.

Focused mitigation efforts

By defining buffer zones around sensitive environments, such as forests, water catchments, or protected areas, companies can pinpoint which supply regions are most vulnerable to environmental risks and focus mitigation efforts accordingly.

Smallholder inclusion

Importantly, supply sheds promote inclusivity by enabling smallholders who might otherwise be excluded due to data gaps to participate in sustainable trade, fostering equitable value chains and reducing the risk of leaving vulnerable suppliers behind.

Supply sheds vs other approaches

Jurisdictional/area-based monitoring

This approach examines large administrative regions, such as provinces, districts, or entire countries. While useful for broad risk assessments and high-level oversight, it often lacks the granularity needed to identify sensitive hotspots or localised environmental and social issues. As a result, it can overlook critical risks occurring within smaller landscapes or specific supply zones.

Supply sheds (the middle ground)

Positioned between broad geographic zones and farm-level mapping, supply sheds provide a focused yet scalable solution. They leverage available data to model the actual supply catchment areas, striking a balance between detail and operational feasibility. This approach enables companies to focus on specific landscapes or supply regions that matter most, without the overwhelming costs associated with farm-level traceability, making it particularly suitable for fragmented and resource-constrained supply chains.

Farm-plot traceability

This is the most precise and auditable method, tracking commodities back to exact farm polygons. It offers excellent transparency and detail, enabling direct verification of compliance and sustainability claims. However, farm-plot mapping is costly, technically challenging, and resource-intensive, especially in highly fragmented, smallholder-dominated supply chains, making it impractical at scale for many companies.

Meridia’s accurate supply shed modelling

Meridia’s supply shed modelling is a critical preparation step that transforms client sourcing data into verified, spatially explicit sourcing footprints, enabling accurate, real-time Deforestation and Conversion-Free (DCF) compliance monitoring through Verify for palm supply chains.

Evidence-based sourcing sheds

We have built the most sophisticated supply shed modelling on the market, delivering the highest value of precision for sustainability and due diligence. Our solution replaces crude distance buffers with evidence-based sourcing sheds constructed from facility capacity, actual catchment patterns, trade flows, and detailed land-use data, resulting in realistic, actionable sourcing maps rather than simplistic circles on a map.

Connects compliance and performance

Meridia’s modelling directly connects compliance and performance, attributing risk and impact at the landscape level and linking these findings to specific facilities and volumes, enabling targeted interventions, transparent mitigation, and credible reporting. The system is scenario‑ready, supporting “what‑if” analyses on sourcing shifts, supplier changes, or policy constraints. This enables clients to confidently compare trade-offs among risk, cost, and operational feasibility.

Verify for DCF

The output of supply shed modelling feeds directly into Meridia Verify, which provides ongoing, audit-ready DCF risk assessments. Verified supply sheds define the sourcing area per facility and calculate DCF-compliant volume claims, even where farm-level polygons are unavailable or incomplete.

The integrated delivery model

Clients provide the country of origin and lists of sourcing facilities. Meridia’s supply shed modelling aggregates and allocates supplier volumes spatially, delivering precise sourcing footprints. These feed into Verify, which combines environmental risk maps, legality data, and compliance rules to generate continuous DCF risk insights, prioritising suppliers and enabling targeted remediation.

Output

• High sourcing accuracy:  mill supply linked only to defined areas modelled by trusted data and optimisation logic
• No double counting:  production is distributed only once based on optimised allocation
• Reduced uncertainty:  fewer gaps and doubts in the sourcing pattern

The accuracy of supply shed modelling results relies on the availability of data and methodology per region. The output is not fully segregated. Mixing is still possible under mass balance. 

Delivery model

Benefits and impact

• High sourcing accuracy: Mill supply is linked only to definable areas using trusted data and optimisation logic.
• No double counting: Production volumes are distributed only once, reflecting optimised allocation across supply sheds.
• Reduced uncertainty: Fewer gaps and doubts in sourcing patterns allow for more reliable risk assessments.
• Inclusivity: Enables the inclusion of smallholders who might otherwise be excluded due to data gaps, thereby supporting sector-wide progress in sustainability.
• Efficiency: Enables quicker and more cost-effective monitoring of large landscapes than farm-by-farm mapping.
• Flexibility: Supply shed modelling bridges the gap between mass balance models and expensive, resource-intensive farm-level mapping, making it suitable for highly fragmented supply chains and environments with restricted data.

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Meridia's supply shed modelling is a comprehensive answer for companies seeking scalable, credible, and inclusive traceability and sustainability solutions in today's complex global supply chains.

Meridia’s supply sheds: your accurate sourcing footprint

• Flexible by design: Annual licensing avoids heavy upfront costs and enables a responsive, renewable model that adapts to shifting priorities.
• Live intelligence: We apply system-wide learnings to improve pipelines, models, and QA. Each licence cycle delivers smarter, more robust data.
• Support built in: Licensing includes updates like mill replacements, supply reallocations, and maintenance. Everything stays operational, current, and aligned with purpose.