British consumers may be buying barbecue charcoal linked to the destruction of forests in Paraguay’s Gran Chaco, according to a new investigation by environmental campaign group
Global Witness.
The investigation identified charcoal sold by major UK retailers, including B&Q and Waitrose, as being connected to Paraguayan forestry company Taruma. Global Witness describes Taruma as the largest international supplier of British barbecue-charcoal brand Big K, whose products are widely available in supermarkets and hardware stores across the country.
The findings put fresh scrutiny on the environmental footprint of everyday consumer products imported from South America, particularly as European countries move towards closer trade relations with the Mercosur bloc.
The Gran Chaco is a vast subtropical dry-forest ecosystem stretching across Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. It is one of South America’s most important forest regions after the Amazon and has faced sustained pressure from agricultural expansion and cattle ranching.
According to Global Witness, satellite imagery and land-use analysis indicate that ranches supplying wood to Taruma have cleared more than 28,000 hectares of forest since 2012. The group argues that this raises questions over whether charcoal entering UK supply chains can be considered genuinely deforestation-free.
Another Paraguayan company, Paben SA, was also identified in the investigation. Global Witness said the company supplied Big K until 2023 and that approximately 2,700 hectares of forest in the Paraguayan Chaco were cleared in areas linked to its sourcing since 2021.
Neither Paben SA nor B&Q responded to requests for comment.
Waitrose, however, said the charcoal it sells complies with the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an independent organisation that operates a global forest-certification system.
Taruma rejected allegations that its activities contribute to deforestation. Chief Executive Rahmeen Farudi said the company does not clear forests and does not hold permits allowing it to do so.
“Taruma does not clear forest and holds no clearing permits,” Farudi said, adding that the company’s sustainability team closely monitors research into changes in land use across the Chaco.
The controversy comes as Paraguay seeks deeper economic integration with Europe through the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. The agreement has intensified attention on the environmental consequences of imports from the South American bloc, particularly products associated with agriculture, livestock and land-use change.
Paraguay has among the world’s highest rates of deforestation relative to its remaining forest cover, according to researchers, including scientists working with NASA. Agricultural development and cattle ranching are widely regarded as major drivers of forest loss.
The charcoal investigation highlights a broader challenge facing European retailers: tracing commodities beyond their immediate suppliers and establishing whether products ultimately depend on land where forests have been cleared.
For consumers, the issue is increasingly relevant as demand grows for products carrying sustainability or responsible-sourcing claims. For retailers, meanwhile, scrutiny of supply chains is likely to intensify as European environmental standards place greater emphasis on the origins of imported goods.
The case also illustrates the difficulty of reconciling expanding trade between Europe and South America with increasingly demanding environmental commitments. As European companies deepen their commercial relationships with Mercosur countries, the ability to demonstrate that imported products are not contributing to deforestation is becoming an increasingly important test of corporate responsibility. Photo by Ilosuna, Wikimedia commons.
