Initiatives & Action
Project SUP
Your chocolate purchases support Amazon River cleanup!
The project is called #projetoSUPaneiro, run by Super Acao Standup. Owners Ruy Montalvao and Thaissa Scerne take volunteers throughout the year to paddle on SUPs and grab litter from rivers and tributaries in the Amazon Delta region (where our owner Mariano grew up). River-Sea's contributions pay for supplies, lunches, boat rentals, recording equipment, and create jobs.
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A second aspect of our support funds educational eco-fitness programs, where low-income children learn SUP and embrace environmental stewardship along the way!
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Sail Cargo Project
River-Sea's first shipment of cacao was the very first Sail Cargo shipment allowed in the USA since motorized cargo became the convention! Over 100 years!
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Skip Down to Read About our Shipments and Cacao
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THE PROBLEM
Over 90 percent of world trade is carried by around 90,000 marine vessels, and these ships collectively produce more carbon dioxide emissions than cars.
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Sail transport reduces carbon emissions by 99% over conventional cargo transport, while providing a more nimble and efficient sustainable solution for trade.
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Only 4 sail cargo ships exist in the world! River-Sea is commited to funding the restoration/construction of more sail vessels, increasing routes and further growing this movement.
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Tres Hombres
4.18.2019
Pioneering Pollution Free Trade!
April 18, 2019 we welcomed the first shipment of sustainably harvested AND sustainably shipped cocoa beans using the Tres Hombres: a cargo vessel that is driven only by wind. The ship, under the helm of Captain Remi Lavergne, docked at the Port of Morehead City on Thursday, April 18 at 8:30 p.m.
Avontuur
12.15.2022
After needing to take a break from the shipments because of the global pandemic, we're back in business! Avontuur docked at Port Everglades on December 15, 2022, bringing us two tons of Zorzal cacao from the Dominican Republic and 1500lbs of coffee beans from Colombia.
With this project, we demonstrate sail transport, again, as a viable emission-free option for the small businesses.
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Sierra Nevada Cacao
Colombia
Flavor Notes: Apricots, Floral and Fudge.
Sierra Nevada region of Colombia is a very unique coastal mountain range, where you can see snow-capped mountains overlooking the Caribbean sea. The beans are grown by indigenous farmers both traditionally and with the help of an international project established to eliminate cocaine trafficking.
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River-Sea owners Krissee and Mariano visited Santa Marta Colombia to meet with the people who made this emission-free cacao possible.
This included farmers, facilitators, suppliers, some of the Tres Hombres ship crew and the ship captain.
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Zorzal
Dominican Republic Cacao
Flavor Notes: Raspberry, Walnut, Brownie.
The passions for cacao, wildlife conservation, and sustainable development unite at Reserva Zorzal - a 1,019 acre bird sanctuary and organic cacao farm in the northern mountain range. Zorzal Cacao is honored to be the first cacao farm in the world to receive the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's Shade-Grown, "Bird Friendly®" Certificate.
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