Monks at an abbey in Burgundy are desperately trying to move their cheese. Their normal market has dried up, and they need to sell off four thousand cheeses, about three tons, quickly.
The semi-soft cheese, which the monks have been making since 1925, took a silver medal last year at an international food and drink competition in Lyon, but Covid lockdowns have cut off their usual market; up to now the cheese has been sold only to restaurants and to visitors to the thousand-year-old Abbey.
Brother Jean-Claude, in charge of marketing, told AFP that “We tried explaining to our 75 cows that they needed to produce less milk but they don’t seem to have understood…We need to clear out our stock.”
The cheese is being sold through a startup called Divine Box which sells products made by religious houses in France and elsewhere. If you’re interested, the minimum order is two cheeses, totaling about three pounds, for €23 each plus shipping.
