NearyNógs’s role in ‘emission free’ by Fortnum and Mason

Luxury chocolate makers Shane and Dot Neary of NearyNógs in Newry have worked with iconic London store Fortnum and Mason on the creation of the world’s first ‘farm to shore’ Sailboat Chocolate, a naturally grown and certified organic product which is 99 percent emission-free.
Husband and wife team Shane and Dorothy Neary of NearyNógsHusband and wife team Shane and Dorothy Neary of NearyNógs
Husband and wife team Shane and Dorothy Neary of NearyNógs

Fortnum’s approached the talented couple to be part of the unique project to turn fine cocoa from an organic grower in Grenada in the Caribbean into a premium chocolate slate for sale in the prestigious store in London. It is chocolate with a difference….and a massive endorsement for the environment conscious Co Down artisans.

The chocolate was grown, processed, shipped from Grenada and produced in Northern Ireland to be almost 100 percent emission-free, a world first for the industry that meant using sailboats, horse and cart, solar power and all-electric vans.

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“We had been working with Fortnum’s for some time when they approached us to be part of what was a very exciting and leading-edge project,” Shane explains. “The store was attracted, in particular, by our use of solar panels to power chocolate production. This fitted perfectly with their imaginative project to produce an organic and a virtually emission-free chocolate.”

Successful chocolate maker Shane Neary of NearyNógs in NewrySuccessful chocolate maker Shane Neary of NearyNógs in Newry
Successful chocolate maker Shane Neary of NearyNógs in Newry

In addition to producing the chocolate slates for Fortnum’s, NearyNógs organised a sailboat to pick up the consignment 25kg cubes of raw chocolate from the Caribbean in the Netherlands and a rowing boat to transfer the cubes when the sailboat anchored in Carlingford Lough. A horse and cart was then arranged by the couple to collect the cubes and take them to their workshop in the Mournes.

“It was quite a challenge for us,” Shane continues. “But we were really thrilled to be involved because of our longstanding commitment to organic and fair trade chocolate and sustainable production. We have long been committed to doing right by the planet, and this was a tremendous opportunity to be part of such a pioneering project. Fortnum’s is working hard to do more things more often to create long-lasting, sustainable change.”

Fortnum’s set out on the emission-free journey towards Sailboat Chocolate because shipping is a major polluter – responsible for 2.5 percent of global emissions. The project was to transport organic certified chocolate from the Caribbean to Piccadilly using as few emissions as possible. This meant by sailboat, electric van and even on a horse and cart too!

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Fortnum’s visionary Sailboat Chocolate journey began with The Grenada Chocolate Company, an organic cocoa farmers’ and chocolate-makers’ cooperative with a radical new business model that resulted in the first ‘Tree to Bar’ chocolate this century, adding all the value to the local economy there. Each farmer is a shareholder in the company and is paid above the standard rate, with their factory workers being paid double the going rate for equivalent jobs.

The beans were then processed into raw chocolate in a solar powered factory. While cocoa beans are normally shipped across the world to be made into bars, Grenada Chocolate Company uses zero emissions to craft their chocolate and beans that are fresh, rather than months or even years old. Once 350kg of chocolate - in 25kg cubes - had been made by the company they began the first stage on the wide-open sea on an engineless sailing boat. Manned by FairTransport, the chocolate sailed from Grenada to Den Helder in the Netherlands.

Once it reached there, the chocolate began the second voyage on T/S Britta, with Silvery Light Sailing - organised by NearyNógs - to Carlingford Lough.

A passionate team of volunteers from Boyne Heritage Rowing Club brought the chocolate to the shoreline at Killowen Yacht Club using a traditional Drontheim wooden rowing boat based on a design stretching back to Viking times. The chocolate then began a bumpy ride of six miles by horse and cart to NearyNógs, Ireland’s first bean to bar chocolate makers. NearyNógs crafts exceptional confectionery in a solar-powered factory overlooking the lough. The Sail Boat Chocolate was heated and broken down into slates, tempered and packed in recyclable, biodegradable packaging.

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As the final leg of this sustainable journey was entirely on land, Fortnum’s used its own electric vans to transport the exquisite Sailboat Chocolate to the Piccadilly store.

NearyNógs, which began making chocolate in 2011, sources cacao beans ethically grown in Sâo Tomé, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Panama, Uganda, Nicaragua, Philippines and Ecuador. Beans and sorted by hand, roasted, cracked and winnowed, stone ground and tempered by the small company to produce fine chocolate. 

The small artisan business has won major awards and sells chocolate to Belgium, as well as in Great Britain, other parts of Europe and to New Zealand, Australia and the US.

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