Aboard the Floating Chocolaterie

Caroline Mills talks to Jacques Barreau, co-founder of Grain de Sail, a unique chocolaterie – and cargo-ship designer – in Brittany…

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The chocolaterie or the ship? To make chocolate, you need cocoa beans. But to receive the cocoa beans, you need a ship. And to make the ship, you need to sell chocolate to finance its build, It’s a conundrum answered by Grain de Sail, a chocolatier and so much more -based in Morlaix, in the department of Finistère in northwest Brittany. As chocolatiers go, it is, I’ll argue, unique. I am not aware of any other chocolate maker in France, or even Europe, that collects its raw product-the cocoa bean by its own ship. And a sailing ship at that.

Setting sail

Every business these days makes claims about being ‘green’, about the environment and sustainability. For chocolate makers, that usually means the beans come from ethically managed, fair trade farms. Possibly organic. Maybe some environmentally-friendly packaging. Grain de Sail does all that. But it can tell a very different story, too.

The dream of a ship came first, the chocolatier and chocolaterie second, as a reason to build a cargo ship. The company’s co-founder, Jacques, explains. “My twin brother, Olivier, and I. as engineers in offshore wind for a decade, had an idea to reduce the footprint of maritime shipping. We wanted to design a new transatlantic sailing cargo ship that used today’s technology-both in the materials used to build it and in its satellite-based routing, rather than reverting to historic sailing boats and a sextant.

“We could see a link between shipping and food processing, and so we made a deliberate choice of coffee and cocoa because of the need to transport from overseas. We needed to finance the design and build of a low-carbon vessel and so we began, in 2013, to learn how to roast coffee beans and then, in 2016. how to make chocolate.”

And so, Grain de Sail was born. It was Jacques and Olivier who designed the first ship, built in Couëron in southern Brittany-not a big schooner-type boat in cargo terms. but a mere 24 metres, with a load capacity of 50 tonnes. “There are maritime shipping regulations over performance and crew conditions-the size of cabins for example,” says Jacques. “But because the boat was so small, we had to negotiate the rules for the crew of four sailors.”

With the coffee-roasting and chocolate manufacture underway, Grain de Sail set sail from Saint-Malo on its maiden transatlantic voyage in November 2020, bound for New York. Its hull was full of goods-mostly luxury French wine-and its arrival in the city, passing by the Statue of Liberty and under Brooklyn Bridge was an emotional experience, as can be seen in videos on display at Grain de Sail’s chocolaterie in Morlaix. More on that later.

Caribbean dreams

With its precious cargo unloaded, the sailing schooner then travelled south to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, where it could pick up coffee and cocoa beans for the return trip to Brittany, “Although Olivier and I wanted to design the first ship, it was definitely a mistake,” says Jacques. “We succeeded but it was hard work. However, we wanted to prove that it’s possible to build a carbon neutral cargo ship at a large, commercial scale. To have made anything smaller would have been pointless.”

And so, Grain de Sail was renamed Grain de Sail I, to make way for Grain de Sail II. A schooner made with an aluminium hull, this would be more than double the length and, being wider, too, would give a 350 tonne cargo capacity, more than eight times that of Grain de Sail I.

“As its length is longer. its speed is better.”

explains Jacques and it can cope with hurricane season in the Caribbean, so it’s possible to make five transatlantic loops a year, sending upmarket, luxury French goods to the United States of America, and returning with our coffee and cocoa beans for our coffee roasting business and chocolatier. Guadeloupe has become our logistics hub in the Caribbean, where Grain de Sail II is returning from now. As we speak, the sailing ship is approaching the Azores and will arrive in Saint-Malo in ten days.”

Listening to Jacques, I’m already buying into the adventure: it’s so exciting to think of this sailboat slicing through the ocean waves to Brittany with the raw materials to make delicious chocolate I can’t wait to taste.

“The maritime adventure is only one part of the brand,” he continues. “Its sustainability is the more important element. Grain de Sail II provides a carbon footprint saving of 90% compared to a conventional, average cargo vessel crossing the Atlantic.

“But we’re not here to just reduce the carbon footprint, we’re here to kill it. So efficient wind power is calculated against the design of the rigging and the energy required to feed the technology, heating and cooling on board – and that required to roast coffee and make chocolate.”

And with that, I visit the Grain de Sail chocolaterie, an experience open to visitors at the purpose-built production facilities in Morlaix, where I can watch every process of the chocolate manufacture, from tablets of chocolate to individual ganaches and pralines. A gallery introduces visitors to the Grain de Sail adventure of sailing ships (take a selfie on board Grain de Sail), sustainability. chocolate and cocoa bean cultivation around the world. There’s also a chance to make your own chocolate bar.

A taste of the high seas

What of the future? Well, Caribbean rum is the latest luxury to be transported in oak barrels on Grain de Sail II. bottled in Brittany upon arrival (and sold at Grain de Sail).

And so, too, begins the design and build of the bigger and better Grain de Sail III. “This new ship will be 1000 times more carbon-efficient than air freight.” Jacques tells me. Plus there are plans to increase the distribution of Grain de Sail chocolate, which is already sold across 50% of France as well as in New York and California in the US.

For now. though, it’s time for a tasting in Grain de Sall’s chocolaterie. I pick chocolate that represents the best of Brittany-with Breton caramel and sei de Guérande. I might add on a bottle of that rum to my order, too. It couldn’t get more sailor-ish than that.

graindesail.com/en

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Lead photo credit : Départ St Malo Grain de Sail I