Ocean Beer is coming to France… and it will protect our ocean!
Photo credit: Maxime Richard - Objectif Bière
On the occasion of Ocean Beer's launch in France, the French beer-specialist media Objectif Bière published an in-depth interview with Zoé, in charge of the brand's market development at Ocean Born Foundation. The conversation covers the story behind the brand, how we select our brewing partners, the methodology behind our impact figures, and the licensing model that structurally guarantees that 100% of our profits reach ocean conservation.
Since much of what was discussed goes well beyond the French context, we've gathered the key excerpts of the interview below. Many thanks to Maxime from Objectif Bière for the thoughtful questions and this extensive article.
Why did you choose to produce a beer to protect the ocean?
For two reasons.
First, let's acknowledge the facts: the ocean is in grave danger due to human activities, yet its protection is woefully underfunded. Today, less than 3% of its surface is truly protected, and there is a shortfall of approximately €150 billion annually in funding needed to restore its health. This is the least funded of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. We therefore wanted to create a large-scale funding mechanism that would transform an everyday gesture into concrete action for the ocean, and beer happens to be one of the most consumed beverages in the world. In fact, if every beer sold annually worldwide were an Ocean Beer, the brewing industry alone could fund the protection of 30% of the ocean's surface, which is the target set by the UN for 2030.
Second, because beer is a powerful social connector that brings people together across cultures, generations, and backgrounds: exactly the kind of collective mobilisation we need to protect the ocean that unites and concerns us all. And sharing a beer is also an opportunity to slow down and talk about what matters. With an Ocean Beer in hand, we wanted to create an invitation to reflect on our blue planet: its beauty, its fragility, and our collective responsibility to protect it.
Are the breweries that produce Ocean Beer selected according to environmental criteria?
We choose our brewing partners in each country based on three criteria:
Brewing quality : we only work with breweries recognized for the quality of their brews, which have won international awards.
Environmental commitment : the breweries we work with actively strive to limit their impact, whether through local sourcing, responsible water and energy management, or waste reduction. Our French partner, Brasserie des Sources, for example, modernized all of its facilities in 2024 to reduce the carbon footprint of its brewing: installation of solar panels ensuring energy self-sufficiency for part of the year, methanization of spent grains which supplies the local network with 100% local and renewable green gas, integration of reusable bottle lines to reduce packaging production, etc.
Mission alignment : partner breweries agree to adapt their business model to respect our commitments (more information about this in the last question below).
I've seen that several countries produce Ocean Beer. Are there other countries coming soon?
Ocean Beer is currently brewed in three countries:
In France, by the Brasserie des Sources in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (North of France),
In Germany, by the Neuzelle Klosterbrauerei (in Brandenburg region),
In the Canary Islands (Spain), by Cervecería Isla Verde, on the island of La Palma.
We will start brewing the beer very soon in the UK, and are working on developing the brand in several other markets, in Europe and around the world, for 2027.
Is the recipe exactly the same for all countries that produce this beer?
We offer three types of beer to our partner brewers: a Lager, an IPA, and a 0.0% ABV beer. Each brewery then adapts these to their own expertise, local ingredients, and the preferences of consumers in their market. Therefore, there is no strict recipe, but rather a common flavor profile and shared quality standards.
How is the number of square meters of ocean protected for one year estimated?
The calculation is provided by Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas, the partner NGO that actively deploys and manages the networks of Marine Protected Areas we fund. The method: their total annual operating costs are divided by the number of square meters they are able to protect, giving a precise estimate of the cost of protecting one square meter per year. We thus know that the sale of one liter of Ocean Beer funds 640 m² of ocean per year (which, broken down by size, gives 320 m² for 50cl and 480 m² for 75cl).
These Marine Protected Areas are located in biodiversity hotspots, where marine ecosystems are both the most threatened (dynamite fishing, poison fishing, bottom trawling, etc.) and the most underfunded. The effectiveness of these protected areas in restoring ecosystem health is also independently assessed by scientists from the CNRS Foundation (National Center for Scientific Research).
As a reminder, only half of our profits are allocated to these Marine Protected Areas. The other half is donated at the end of each year to local ocean protection and restoration initiatives in each of the countries where the beer is brewed and consumed: in France for the beer brewed by Brasserie des Sources, in Germany for that of Klosterbrauerei Neuzelle, and in the Canary Islands for CerveceríaIsla Verde.
Do the profits from each beer sale actually go to the Ocean Born Foundation?
Ocean Beer operates under a licensing model with its brewing partners. Each brewery pays us a royalty on every beer sold. 100% of this royalty, which constitutes the profits of the Ocean Born Foundation, is donated to ocean protection and restoration projects. Our organization's non-profit status structurally guarantees this reallocation.
It's important to note that the whole idea behind Ocean Beer is that the beer itself funds ocean conservation, rather than the donation simply being added as an extra cost to the consumer. For this model to work, our partner brewers agree to reduce their profit margin to the bare minimum, keeping Ocean Beer affordable while helping us maximize the share that goes back to the ocean.
Ocean Beer, a truly committed beer
Photo credit: Maxime Richard - Objectif Bière
We can only applaud Ocean Born Foundation's work in protecting the environment through this innovative initiative that will resonate with many people (beer brings people together!). Kudos also to Brasserie des Sources for agreeing to participate in this program for the planet.
A big thank you to Lucie Stock from Brasserie des Sources for sending the beers in 50cl and 75cl formats, and to Zoé Guislain for the very detailed answers to my questions!
Beers received free of charge from Brasserie des Sources. Unpaid collaboration. My opinion remains entirely independent. Excessive alcohol consumption is dangerous for your health; drink responsibly.