We spoke to Jacques Barreau who co-founded Grain de Sail with his twin brother, Olivier, after they successfully launched an offshore wind farm business together in France. A specialist in project development, organization, and finance, he is capable of bringing ideas to life. With over 25 years of experience in industry and marine renewable energies, Jacques, an industrial innovation engineer, joined Olivier in the Grain de Sail adventure and took on the role of Managing Director. He runs the company on a day-to-day basis and ensures the financial management of the group.
How did the idea for Grain de Sail come about, and what is the company’s backstory?
Founded in 2012 in Morlaix, Brittany, France, by twin brothers Jacques and Olivier Barreau, experts in renewable energy, Grain de Sail was created with the idea of combining a land-based food business consisting of chocolate production and coffee roasting with a maritime-based business, consisting of decarbonized transportation services. Grain de Sail has built a unique company and business model by selecting, producing, and selling high-quality products and transporting them on our cargo sailboats. The company has grown, and Grain de Sail now provides low-carbon maritime logistics services to customers in Europe and the Americas.
What does the current route of the sailboat look like, how long does it take, and what does it transport?
We have two routes. One is a short, direct round trip from France to New York City and back to France (in St-Malo, the home port of our fleet). The other is a full loop that starts in France, calls at New York City, and then heads to Guadeloupe (in the Caribbean) before returning to France. The Atlantic crossing takes about 20 days (we hope to reduce that to 15 to 18 days as we optimize navigation efficiency). And then it takes about 10 to 12 days to travel south to Guadeloupe. We transport different goods depending on which leg of the journey we are talking about. On the export side (from France to New York City), we carry French goods ranging from wines and spirits to cosmetics and perfumes. The range is quite broad; we even move high-end leather goods and chocolates. Because we transport by pallet and maintain a constant temperature and low humidity, we can ship almost any type of goods (except perishables that require refrigeration). From New York City to the Caribbean, we transport humanitarian supplies, and on the way back from Latin America, we transport the raw materials (cocoa and coffee).
What prompted the company to begin transporting medical supplies?
Since we ship goods from France to the U.S. market and then to the Caribbean to load our organic raw materials (cocoa and coffee), we were looking for a way to use our ships between New York City and the island nations. Providing free transportation for humanitarian purposes seemed like a no-brainer and aligned well with our values. Our partnership with the New York-based AFYA Foundation involves transporting medical supplies to non-governmental organizations in the Caribbean. It makes sense to us because logistics are always more difficult for islands, especially economically depressed islands. We could easily transport other goods and have also transported and delivered school supplies (printers, cartridges, etc.). Humanitarian aid goes beyond medical supplies.
What made the company want to start to transport wine?
We tried to find a good use for the ships on the European export route. Initially, it was clear what the imports would be: organic cocoa and coffee from Latin America to be shipped back to our production facilities in France. The big question was what we would do during the first part of the voyage when we left France. We did not want to travel empty-handed and would ideally try to identify business opportunities. Given the disparity in purchasing power between Europe and the Caribbean, starting a direct route to the islands with European goods on board was unrealistic. So we decided to go to the United States first. Historically, shipping has been on large and polluting container ships. That’s where we saw the opportunity—selecting top wines and transporting them with the power of the wind.
What are Grain de Sail’s future goals?
Grain de Sail wants to continue to develop our fleet of cargo sailboats and make decarbonized shipping more accessible. At the same time, we want to continue growing our food business by adding production units in France and abroad (including Europe and the United States) and expanding our international distribution. We are currently doing this in the United States, where a local distributor helps us get our chocolates into American stores. For now, we will only export to the United States. However, as the business grows, we plan to have enough volume to start manufacturing locally and have our own chocolate factory on U.S. soil.
How much carbon will be reduced per trip using Grain de Sail?
We aim to reduce the carbon footprint by over 90% compared to conventional cargo ships. By designing a true wind-powered cargo sailboat, we are harnessing the power of nature and using it to transport goods across the Atlantic. We do this in a completely modern way that we call retro-innovation. We use wind for propulsion, just as our ancestors did for thousands of years. But we do it with the best modern technologies, such as complex materials like aluminum hulls (optimized for weight and performance), onboard electronics, satellites, solar panels, hydro generators for onboard power stored in modern batteries, and more. We are redefining modern shipping and demonstrating that it is possible to operate low-carbon ships that reliably move cargo across the ocean.
