Fresh coffee Clean ocean

The boat is capable of carrying around 940 tonnes of palletized goods.

On the first import from Colombia, we will ship a majority of coffee.

The ship will leave the port of Santa Marta in Colombia at the end of August and arrive in the port of Le Havre around 20 September with 600 tonnes of coffee sourced by Belco.

The second ship will leave Brazil in November and arrive in December with 900 tonnes of coffee.

900 tonnes of Colombia is too much for Belco, and we are offering this space to roasters wishing to embark on this adventure with a "Direct Trade by Sail" offer.

Every year, we will be carrying out several transatlantic routes. There will be departures in August and April from Colombia. For Brazil, the departures will be in November. We're also working with TOWT to open a new route in spring 2025. It would leave from Guatemala with all our Central American coffees. We hope one day to open a route from the east coast of Africa, stay tuned!

Maritime transport is intimately linked to our business of importing coffee and equipment. We believe it is our responsibility to be a leader in this field and to involve all the players in our ecosystem: producers, customers, forwarding agents, customs authorities, etc.

Maritime transport is responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions. It is also responsible for 20% of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions worldwide.

First and foremost, these emissions pose a major public health problem. These gases generate fine particles, which are proven to be responsible for the development of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and the premature death of thousands of people.

More generally, these emissions are actively contributing to global warming, which is disrupting and destroying our ecosystems. Coffee growers are on the front line: droughts are longer, hurricanes more numerous.... This impacts yields and increases poverty, forcing families to migrate or change crops. Secondly, the impact on biodiversity is immense. Maritime transport generates more than twice the decibel limit allowed in nightclubs (102 decibels over a maximum duration of 15 minutes). This destabilises the movements of cetaceans, which use a sonar system and get lost on the coast.

Finally, these gases accentuate the phenomenon of acid rain, which damages forests and eutrophies bodies of water, reducing all forms of life due to the lack of light...

(Source: Ademe & European Environment Agency EEA)

The first reason is economic! In a world where resources are going to become increasingly scarce in the medium term, more and more expensive and concentrated in the hands of a few players, sailing is an incredible solution! It offers independence and stability! No more dependence on oil prices and charterer monopolies. Wind energy is inexhaustible and free! Secondly, the price of transporting goods by sail has fallen sharply because of the volume transported. Today, the investment is €1/kg (compared with €5/kg 2 years ago) and can be recouped between 2 and 3 times over, depending on the distribution network. Sailing has a very powerful appeal to consumers. B2B customers are also taking a keen interest in sailing as part of their CSR policy and their efforts to comply with the CSRD legislative.

In concrete terms, considering the carbon impact of the ship's construction, transport by sail is 4 times less emissive than a conventional cargo ship over the entire life of the vessel. 

It's a unique positioning: you'll be the first to transport your coffees in a low-carbon way that has no impact on biodiversity. It's the first time we've been able to promote the image of transport.

The companies that get involved first will win the battle for meaning. Customers, suppliers, employees, and financial backers are looking for meaningful projects.

Make the coffee sector an exemplary sector in terms of transformation towards greater sustainability.

A large container ship comparable to those on our roads consumes around 80g of CO2 per kilo of goods transported. A cargo sailboat consumes around 13g of CO2 per kg of goods transported. 

Considering the impact of the construction of the vessel and amortizing it over the life of the two ships (25 years), the impact of the container ship is 82g of CO2 per kg of goods transported, while the impact of the sailing boat is 21g of CO2 per kg of goods transported.

The CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive): since January 2024, 50,000 companies in Europe have been obliged to complete their extra-financial declaration, which includes their sourcing policy. Sailing transport and, more generally, Belco's sourcing will help you to bid for contracts with companies subject to the CSRD (Belco itself is a company subject to the CSRD).

Belco itself will have to comply with the CSRD directive and publish its non-financial reporting from 1 January 2025.

The IMO (International Maritime Organization) has entered the European carbon quota system. This means that all ships touching European coasts will have to pay a right to pollute according to their emissions. For example, a ship that consumes 6,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil over 30 days' sailing will have to pay 18,000 tonnes of CO2 (one tonne of heavy fuel oil = 3 tonnes of CO2) at €60 per tonne (today's price), or around €1 million to Europe. 

More generally, the ecological transition is in the hands of end consumers, suppliers, and the regulator. And the regulator understands we need a framework to move things forward, so everything suggests that there will be more and more frameworks and laws on these subjects. Let's anticipate them and be ready to respond to the market.

By 2030, 80% of our coffees will be transported by sail. This decision is close to our hearts and represents a radical shift in our business model. We are convinced, and now we need to convince the end consumer—who is already very aware of this issue—so that this mode of transport becomes the standard.

Today, the additional cost of transport by sail is +1€ht/kg on the FCA Le Havre selling price for all coffees from Colombia and Brazil. When the loss due to roasting is taken into account, the impact in terms of value is 0.30€ht for a 250 grams packet and 1.20€ht for a one kilo packet. This represents between 4% and 6% of the selling price, depending on the distribution network, and it can be highly valuable!

TOWT's 2 vessels are true 80-metre sailing yachts (69 meters of hull touching the water and 11 meters above water level). They navigate essentially with their sails. This is known as main sail propulsion.

Other solutions are developing hybrid propulsion vessels, i.e. with an engine that is always on and rigid wings as a means of reducing the fuel bill.