Despite recent development and investment in modern sail cargo, landing coffee on our shores this year has been a struggle. In fact, if you asked us just a few months ago I would have said our chances were close to zero. Despite our best attempts, it felt very much like it wasn’t going to happen.

To give some context, this coffee (or most of it at least) has been on 3 boats to get here. From Guatemala to France, France to Plymouth and finally Plymouth to Port Navas. The final leg of this journey was an incredible sail that I was lucky enough to be on. In many ways this collaboration of like-minded people & businesses is at the heart of sail cargo and my own experience during that sail reminded me of this.

The coffee has been sourced and imported through Belco, a French importer who has partnered with TOWT’s gigantic sail ship Anemos. This monstrous sail ship, capable of carrying over 1,000 tons sailed across the Atlantic to France, where she docked in Le Harve. To come to a UK port and cover all costs (fees, operating costs, labour,) we’re looking at sums close to £45,000. So, until we can reach volumes above 50 tons, Anemos will always bypass the UK.

This means we need smaller, shuttle-style boats that can cross the channel to continue the journey by sail. Thankfully, we found Sylvain of Comptoir d'Éole and Heol Sailing, who has been chartering the Grain De Sail - another modern sail cargo vessel that can carry 50 tons. Our first plan was to load coffee just a few miles south of Le Havre, but sadly, this didn’t happen so we had to load in St Nazaire instead. From here, Grain De Sail crossed the channel to Plymouth harbour.

The original plan was to pick up the coffee in our electric vans, then we saw The Ibis. A beautiful, fully restored 1920’s Cornish lugger that has a commercial license to carry 1 ton of cargo. A few phone calls later and we’d been invited to jump on the boat for the final leg, a sail that would likely take 8-10 hours depending on the wind

This road journey has been the subject of some conversation within our team so I think it’s right we talk about it with complete transparency. Especially given our recent history, calling people out for greenwashing.

We see sail ship as a beacon for change and a marker for transparency and ethos. A lot of that comes down to the people involved but it also comes down to nature as well. In the 8 hour sail from Plymouth, I think we saw over 7 pods of dolphins, tuna and seals - I couldn’t help but think about the horrendous impact containing shipping has on those animals - just the noise alone would be a problem but Maritime transport is responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions. It is also responsible for 20% of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions worldwide.


As well as this, working with sailship allowed us to meet people like Slyvain, Dom and Barbara. These are individuals who have spent their lives trying to do things well with purpose and passion - mostly for the benefit of others. After chatting with Barbara about their restoration of an old Cornish Lugger I wasn’t surprised at all to learn they has spent a lot of her life teaching children how to sail. Her biggest passion was sharing her understanding of how the sea can help with mental health or emotional wellbeing. These are the people you meet when you look away from big industry - dedicating their lives to local communities, heritage and the joy of the sea.