After prayers at the Chantelle Abbey in Allier, France, a marketing meeting between the abbey’s nuns and their employees discusses the latest orders for its on-site soap and cosmetics products — the delivery destination: Germany.
The community of Benedictine sisters has been manufacturing cosmetics since 1954, after two sisters, a chemist and a mathematician, began the practice.
Body lotions, shower gels and moisturizers are among the products made in the abbey’s own laboratory, where the nuns acknowledge they must now make time for prayer and business.
Photo: AFP
“A company must develop or it dies,” Mother Pascale said while supervising production, dressed in a veil and scapular.
“We have needed to develop, to make more turnover and to modernize our clientele,” she added, sounding more business executive than spiritual leader.
For the Benedictines, manual labor is imperative to respect the rule of Saint Benedict, which dates back to the sixth century.
As long as it is not during the hours of prayer, the sisters can work on the products, from conception to packaging.
Even Sister Marie-Suzanne, the 97-year-old dean of the abbey, is involved in the work.
However, in order to meet the demand, the abbey has hired about 10 nonreligious employees to help with the production.
“The purpose is not to look for money to grow rich. We are not planning to do a stock listing! But to make a living with a reasonable margin,” Mother Pascale said.
Sold in monasteries, boutique shops and on the Internet — the abbey even has a Facebook page — the cosmetics are mainly created from natural products and generated 1 million euros (US$1.16 million) in sales last year. Much of the money is used to renovate and repair the seventh-century abbey’s many beautiful, yet old, ramparts and monastic buildings.
“We live in beauty, but the renovations are expensive. We have redone the roof and the rooms we live in... but it never ends,” the abbess said, with a sigh.
The market for abbey-made products is far from unique to France and is at least as developed in Germany and to a lesser extent in Britain. Across France, about 250 to 300 communities dedicated to prayer sell products or services.
From biscuits to jam and honey, to gluten-free products and organic vegetables, men and women of the cloth have expanded into a variety of businesses.
The Abbey of Saint Wandrille, founded in 649, last year restarted the production of monastic beer with great success. The community has sold more than 100,000 bottles in less than a year, more than half on-site.
The Grande Chartreuse monastery in Isere, France, has experienced even greater success marketing its alcohol.
It distills a liqueur, created from a mix of 130 plants, that has a natural green color — the exact recipe only known by two of the abbey’s monks.
The business now employs 58 people in its factory in Voiron in southeastern France and had about 17 million euros in sales in 2015.
Citeaux Abbey in Burgundy, known for its washed rind cheese made from cow’s milk, posted 1.2 million euros in sales last year.
Much of the cheese is sold on-site, but also in places as far away as Montreal, Tokyo and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“Fifteen days ago, I received a call from a company that helps businesses in difficulty,” Father Jean-Claude said. “I told him: ‘Yes, I have a problem. We produce 120,000 cheeses a year, but we have demand for more than 160,000!’”
To protect the image of their products and avoid unfair competition, more than 200 communities have formed an association and created the “Monastic” mark to certify the authenticity of products from monasteries.
However, despite the growth of some of their businesses, some analysts have argued that many monasteries lack opportunities to expand.
“The vast majority of communities have modest productions, because the place of the work remains very limited,” said Marie-Catherine Paquier, author of a thesis on the purchase of monastic products.
The total market for “Made in Abbeys” products is estimated to be 75 million euros per year, she said.
However, of the market expands, business-minded nuns and monks might increasingly have to reconcile spirituality with potential profitability.
Mother Pascale recognizes it could pose a problem, but said: “The priority is to look for the Lord.”
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