The Belgian trappist monks, who make one of the world's most coveted beers, Westvleteren 12, have decided to open up to the world of online transactions so that their limited production reaches drinkers and not resellers at home. profit. The sales site began operations on Tuesday (06/18).
In Saint-Sixte Abbey, in the Belgian town of Westvleteren, where 19 monks live today, beer production began in 1839 and was sold to the public in 1878. Production has always been limited and controlled sales so this brewery would never dominate the monastic life or that the monks would charge more than necessary.
After the Second World War, they decided to sell their beer only at the gates of the abbey, rather than in local bars. With the emergence of craft beers, connoisseurs and connoisseurs ranking Westvleteren 12 among the best or best beers in the world, the monks opened a telephone control system in 2005.
From that moment it became possible to order the collection of two crates of beer at the Abbey, but each customer could only make one purchase every 60 days. To get around the rules, shoppers began using different phone numbers to buy more than what was allowed and, in some cases, sell the beer at inflated prices. According to the British newspaper The Guardianthe abbey received 85,000 calls per hour.
The price of 24 beers Westvletern 12 is 45 euros and you must pay a deposit of 15 euros for the box and bottles. This means that each bottle leaves for 2.50 euros.
The monks ask the buyers not to sell the beer, but in Brussels, for example, a bottle of Westvleteren 12 can cost at least 12 euros. The monks claim to have heard that a bottle had been on sale in Dubai for $ 300.
One of the clergymen said that last year a Dutch supermarket had stored 7,200 bottles of Trappist beer and sold them, accompanied by an advertisement from the monks, at 9.95 euros each.
"It opened our eyes, it was a bit of a warning that the problem was so bad that a company was able to buy such quantities, it really pissed us off," said the monk. Godfried, one of the few who also drinks beer.
To avoid resellers looking to make money, the Abbey has launched an online ordering system to replace the phone to guarantee the limit of two crates every 60 days. Buyers will have to register and new buyers will have to wait longer because their last purchase will have priority. For the first time, they will also be able to choose and buy bottles matching the three Westvleteren beers produced in the abbey: a blonde hair with 5.8% alcohol; Westvleteren 8, with an alcohol content of 8%; and the famous Westvleteren 12 – a dark beer with an alcohol content of 10.2%.
The monks recognize that the new online ordering system will not completely eliminate for-profit resellers, but at least will make it difficult to purchase in large quantities. They also hope that the new system will allow foreign beer lovers to more easily order the products made at the abbey, although they will still need to visit the abbey to remove them.
On the new website, the monks report that the online store operates according to limited hours, announced in a calendar provided on the page itself, and that the sale is available only for customers already registered. Collection times are also specified in the calendar.
LPF / rtr / ots
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Authors: Fabian Schmidt (rw)
