Radical honesty
We do not pretend to be perfect.
Here is what we own openly, what we are working to improve, and what we guarantee. No asterisks, no greenwash, no word games.
Real marks on real products, verifiable down to the certificate.The facts first
What we own openly
Nearly everything we sell is imported from certified European organic networks, and nearly all of it arrives by ship. We built the business this way for one reason: genuine certification. There is currently no producer in Mauritius certified organic to European standards, and no local framework that could certify one. If we want to put a verifiable mark on the shelf, the supply chain starts in Europe.
That choice has costs, and we would rather you heard them from us. Sea freight takes around 28 days, which is why our range leans toward the dry goods, pantry staples, supplements, oils and household products that travel perfectly. The small fraction of perishables that cannot survive the crossing flies, and air freight carries a carbon cost we think about constantly. Trust is built through transparency, not marketing, so the numbers are below, unrounded in our favour.
The trade-off
Sea versus air, honestly
Two ways to move food to an island, and why we choose the slow one for roughly 95 percent of our volume.
Sea freight, our default
~15g CO2/kg
- About 28 days in transit from Europe
- Ideal for dry goods, which are most of our catalogue
- Consolidated into monthly full containers to avoid waste
- The least impactful way to import food to Mauritius
Air freight, the exception
~500g CO2/kg
- 24 to 48 hours in transit
- Reserved for the few perishables with no sea alternative
- More than 30 times the emissions of sea freight per kilogram
- A significant impact we limit deliberately and report openly
95%
By sea
of our import volume travels in containers
5%
By air
perishables only, kept as low as we can
~39g
Weighted average
CO2 per kilogram across our transport mix
Does importing cancel the point of organic? The research says no. Weber and Matthews (2008) found transport accounts for around 11 percent of food-related greenhouse gas emissions while production accounts for around 83 percent, and Clark and Tilman (2017, Nature) confirmed that what food is and how it is grown matter far more than how far it moves. A certified organic product shipped by sea often carries a lower total environmental burden than a local product grown with synthetic inputs. These figures are estimates from industry averages, and we will correct them the day better data corrects us.
Work in progress
Our local ambitions
Importing everything forever is not the plan. Three workstreams, reported as they are, not as we wish they were.
First, reasoned agriculture. A number of Mauritian growers farm with sharply reduced pesticide and fertiliser use, without holding European certification. Where we work with them for fresh produce, the shelf label says local reasoned agriculture, distinctly and honestly. It never says bio, because nobody can audit that claim here yet.
Second, certified regional sourcing. South Africa has independent organic certification schemes, including SAOSO and Afrisco, and we are exploring certified citrus and temperate fruit from there: closer than Europe, certified unlike uncontrolled local claims.
Third, and most ambitious, container farming. We are researching vertical growing units that could produce salad greens, herbs and microgreens on the island itself, in a controlled environment with no chemical inputs and up to 90 percent less water than field agriculture. Every leaf grown here replaces the most carbon expensive kilograms we currently fly in. The detail lives on the sustainability page.
We would rather sell you a certified product from far away than an unverifiable promise from next door, and we will keep working until we can offer both.
In writing
What we promise, and what we refuse to
We guarantee
- The certification mark is shown on every certified product, and the certificate behind it is available on request.
- Products that are not certified are labelled as exactly what they are. Local reasoned agriculture is never presented as bio.
- Every batch is traceable back to its certified producer.
- We answer sourcing questions plainly, in store or at [email protected], including the ones we would rather not be asked.
We refuse to promise
- We do not promise carbon neutrality. Importing food across an ocean has a footprint, and we publish it instead of offsetting it away in a footnote.
- We do not promise organic is cheap. It costs more to grow, certify and ship, and pretending otherwise would insult you.
- We do not promise everything can be sourced locally today. EU-standard certified organic supply does not yet exist at scale in Mauritius.
- We do not promise health outcomes. Organic food changes what you are exposed to, not what medicine can do.
Questions
Sourcing questions, answered
- Why does Naturespan import instead of buying local?
- Because there are currently no fruit, vegetable or grocery producers in Mauritius certified organic to European standards, and no local regulatory framework to create them. Where local growers farm carefully under reasoned agriculture, we work with them and label their products honestly as uncertified. For everything that must be genuinely certified, Europe is where the certified supply exists.
- How does the food actually travel?
- Roughly 95 percent of our volume comes by container ship, a journey of about 28 days that suits dry goods perfectly and emits around 15g of CO2 per kilogram. A small share of perishables travels by air, which we limit deliberately because air freight emits around 500g of CO2 per kilogram, more than 30 times as much.
- Is imported organic still better than local conventional?
- On the evidence, usually yes. Weber and Matthews (2008) found transport is about 11 percent of food-related emissions while production is about 83 percent, and Clark and Tilman (2017) showed food type matters far more than food miles. A sea-freighted organic product often carries a lower total environmental burden than a locally grown product raised on synthetic inputs.
- What are you doing to reduce the footprint?
- Sea freight first and always, monthly consolidated containers instead of partial shipments, air freight restricted to perishables without an alternative, and three local workstreams: reasoned agriculture partnerships, exploration of certified South African sourcing for citrus, and a container farming project to grow greens on the island itself. Progress is tracked on our sustainability page.
Keep exploring
Questions we have not answered here?
Ask them. Write to [email protected], or put them to our team in person from September 1, 2026 in Grand Baie and Tamarin. Honest answers are the whole point.