If the young Greenland company Arctic Ice claims to do everything to protect the environment, transporting ice over 7,000 km remains absurd, according to glacier specialists.
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This may seem absurd, but it is nevertheless true. If you travel to Dubai, you will undoubtedly have the opportunity to sip a cocktail… with ice cubes directly imported from Greenland. In any case, this is what a young Greenlandic company launched in 2022, Arctic Ice, is offering, which collects pieces of ice detached from icebergs to send them to luxury restaurants in the Emirates.
The marketing arguments are unstoppable. On its website, Arctic Ice touts the merits of its ice cubes, “of incomparable purity”, from glaciers more than 100,000 years old. The glaciologist Heïdi Sevestre recognizes it, it’s rather attractive. “Yes, it’s a bit exotic, that’s for sure. It’s true that glacier ice has the property of being very poor in minerals, and therefore water sommeliers generally give medals to this ice because it is very pure.”
The carbon footprint is “stratospheric”
But to send it to Dubai, more than 7,000 kilometers away, is absurd, she believes. Especially since Greenland is one of the regions warming the fastest. “If the Arctic is warming so quickly, it is precisely because of burning fossil fuels, sometimes to send goods to the ends of the worldadds the glaciologist. And even though this start-up talks about using boats rather than planes, there is no doubt that the carbon footprint is stratospheric.”
Company officials say they are working to reduce their carbon footprint. And after 20 tons of ice cream exported last year, they hope to convince even more customers.
