In order to fight climate change, some in the West shipping coffee by sailboat instead of using fossil fuel burning freight ships. A few coffee brands in Europe are offering blends with beans sailed from South America to be shipped back, roasted and then sold. From Bloomberg:
Here’s a glimpse of the journey: Roasters buy the beans directly from growers in countries like Colombia before they’re stored in a warehouse and loaded onto a sailboat — destined for ports like Le Havre, France or Penzance, England. The crossing typically takes six weeks. The beans are then couriered to specialty roasters before ending up in espressos served in coffee shops or at home.
No doubt you’re thinking that this would end up being expensive and it is (emphasis mine).
“You’re one step away from the coffee being grown, almost,” said Richard Blake, founder of Yallah Coffee, a Cornwall-based roaster who sells beans sailed from Colombia. A 1-kilogram bag of Yallah Coffee’s Las Brisas beans costs £50 ($62) but boasts “a carbon footprint close to zero.” As a price comparison, the most expensive coffee beans UK supermarket Tesco Plc sells online is a 1-kilogram bag for £13.75 ($17).Blake said people are happy to pay for a premium product “if they feel like there is value in all the steps.”
Then there’s also the extreme risks involved using schooners since there are hazards like violent storms. However, Telco Belco has gotten a lot of good input from customers that they will be importing their product this way.
However, the present method of shipping coffee by traditional freighters makes more economic sense. No doubt the customer bases of these coffee brands are rich liberals virtue signalling in order to feel good about doing something to help fight climate change.
Green Jihad 