Sail Cargo: Delicious Produce Shipped by Wind Power

A Quiet Revolution

The team at Classic Sailing have always admired the work of New Dawn Traders. This small Cornish organisation has taken on a huge project: drawing attention to and starting to solve the problems of our food economy and supply chains. They work in a burgeoning sail cargo industry, transporting goods aboard sailing ships and keeping emissions as low as possible.

If this wasn’t enough, New Dawn Traders also maintain incredibly high standards in the producers they work with. The focus is exclusively on smaller operations using regenerative farming practices. They believe firmly in transporting only what cannot be produced locally, and in co-operative models of business. The New Dawn Traders motto says it all…

Buy Less, Buy Better, Buy Local, By Sail

Food That’s Worth Waiting For

We’re proud to help promote the fantastic work they do, and would highly encourage you to get your orders in for their next order cycle. Produce available includes fantastic olive oil, almonds, wine, honey, rice, and pulses from Portugal. There is also Caribbean cargo of coffee, cacao, chocolate and panela.

New Dawn Traders operate a pre-order system, which ensures producers and ships can get paid in good time. It also keeps prices as low as possible for you. Ordering before the cargo loads gets you the best price, ordering whilst the ship is sailing gets you a smaller discount. Purchasing once produce has been delivered is at full market value.

Collection from the Ship, or Delivered to your Door

You will be given a range of options to get your hands on the delicious bounty. The most exciting of these is to collect it in person from the ship. Dates and ports will be confirmed as the voyage gets underway, but we’d suggest making time for one of these arrival events. The atmosphere is electric. You can meet the ship and the crew who have delivered your goods from the people who grew or made them. This is one of the shortest supply chains you’re ever likely to encounter! The personal stories only add to the value of your produce.

We live in the real world, though, and if you can’t make it down to a quayside event you can, of course, have your order delivered to your door!

Sail Along

You will have the chance to sail along on some of these cargo voyages. Full details are released as we get them, so keep an eye on our voyage pages and social media. Our most up to date sail cargo voyages can always be found on our website.

These trips offer a truly different experience. All of the excitement, camaraderie and learning opportunities you’d get from any traditional sailing holiday, with the added sense of being part of a quiet revolution. Sailing on board you get a real sense of the value of transportation. Warning: it may change the way you shop!