Transport: sailing, a carbon-free means used by a chocolate maker to import his cocoa beans

In Saint Nazaire (Loire Atlantique)in the shadow of the huge liners under construction, the sailboat “Le Gallant” unloads his goods. Burlap sacks contain 4 tonnes of cocoa beans that have been produced thousands of miles away. The beans were grown organically on the island of Grenada in the Caribbean. The cargo ship arrived at the end of May to load them, and returned to Saint-Nazaire at the beginning of September.

The Vendée chocolate maker who imports the beans has voluntarily chosen this carbon-free means of transport. “Sailing transport is a mode of transport that emits 435 times less CO2, so it is something that was important to us to have a more responsible mode of transport.“, explains Charline Ollivier, marketing manager at Saveurs & Nature. In 2017, the chocolatier was the first in France to import cocoa beans. Then, there are still a hundred kilometers to go to the beans, aboard a truck running on biogas, to reach their destination.