An abbey in France sells more than 2 tons of cheese online in a few hours

The monks of the abbey of Citeaux, in the center-east of France, they sold in a few hours two tons of cheese that accumulated in their warehouses due to the pandemic of the coronavirus, more than double your initial goal.

“You have to empty. Customers come less and restaurants are closed. The decrease in sales reached almost 50%, ”Brother Jean Claude, responsible for marketing at the abbey founded in 1098, explained to AFP.

To sell off stocks, Citeaux decided to set itself “a challenge” and sell at least a ton of cheese online between now and Tuesday morning through the startup “Divine Box”, specializing in the online sale of products made in the abbeys.

At the close of the sale on Friday at midnight, the target was far exceeded as 2006.9 kg of cheese were sold.

The 19 Trappist monks, who live in silence, praying and doing manual work, had found “4,000 extra cheeses” in their cellars, or 2.8 tons of surplus.

A last straw for this French cheese called “reblochon”, much sought after and produced since 1925, which won the silver medal at the Lyon international competition in 2020.

“Orders are usually rejected. They are sold in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Dubai … ”, explains the Cistercian.

With the manufacture and sale of cheeses, the abbey became a successful small company, with a turnover of 1.2 million euros (1.4 million dollars) per year for a production of 140,000 cheeses.

“We have tried to explain to our 75 cows that we had to produce less milk but they do not seem to understand,” jokes the monk. “And we can’t push the walls.”