The Sail of the Ship

​

Based in Cornwall and founded in 2014, Yallah has grown from a small market stall into a benchmark for sustainability in the UK coffee scene. Their Coffee Buying Standards set out their own framework — prioritising social relationships, economic transparency, and environmental efforts — rather than relying on third-party certifications.

​

But Yallah has pushed further than most. They’ve turned their attention to one of the industry’s biggest blind spots: how coffee travels across the ocean.

 

Today, around 80% of all goods move by sea, and nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from shipping. Conventional cargo ships dominate because they’re cheap and efficient, but their carbon toll is vast.

​

Shipping coffee by sail comes with its challenges, and this time it took Yallah 3 boats to get their coffee to their roastery. From Guatemala to Cornwall, passing by France and Plymouth.

But it's all worth it, as a way to respect the environment,  the planet, the company's ethos, the entire supply chain. As a way to show that the sustainable way it's not always the easiest or quickest, but it's the most long-lasting and durable if we want to keep enjoying an ethical cup of coffee.

​

This photo essay represents the moment of the coffee unloading from the Grain De Sail - the French sail cargo which sailed from Le Havre to Plymouth - and the loading of beautiful The Ibis - a 1920's restored Cornish lugger owned by Sail Trade South West who transported the green coffee to Cornwall.