Saturday morning it was very busy at the Abbey of Our Lady of Koningshoeven in Berkel-Enschot. From the abbey, a long line of people stretched far into the street. More than four thousand people came to collect cheese. The monks have now got rid of their cheese surplus of 15,000 kilos.
Anyone who drove up the Eindhovenseweg towards the abbey on Saturday morning was greeted by the many cars parked everywhere on the roadsides. There was a long line of people in the street. Cheese lovers from all over the Netherlands came especially for the monks’ cheese. No one had problems with the long line and the crowds. “We are enjoying the sun and it is Saturday. Wonderful”, says a waiting man.
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“It feels a bit like you are at the Efteling. I only missed the signs that indicate that you have to queue for another half hour,” says a man who has just picked up some cheeses. Another lady also stood in line for about half an hour. “It also took us twenty minutes to find a parking space. But I do like a cheese, so if you can also free the monks from all the cheese they have left, that’s great.”
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The brothers make their own cheese and beer at the abbey in Berkel-Enschot. They are best known for their beer, La Trappe. Each beer flavor has its own cheese such as Dubbel, Blond and Isid’or. The cheese cannot be found in the supermarket and the catering industry was closed due to the corona crisis. The result: the brothers were left with a surplus of 15,000 kilos of cheese. To get rid of it, they started an online campaign. It soon stormed.
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On Saturday, people could pick up their order at the abbey between 9 and 12 o’clock. “The crowds are great. Nice to see how this has become such a success and how people have come to the aid en masse”, says the happy brother Bernardus. “We have lost all 15,000 kilos. And that in about ten days. That is huge!”
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The proceeds of all cheese go to a good cause. The monks build a school in Uganda. “It is heartwarming that so many people are coming to support our charity. Now we can finish the project.”
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The police also noticed the dozens of cars on the verges and the large group of people. They soon paid a visit to the abbey.
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“We had managed everything in the right direction here, only the parking nuisance led to some problems. There is of course no parking here for so many people, so cars were not always parked in a responsible place. The police were rightly a bit angry about that”, says brother Bernardus.
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After one o’clock in the afternoon the line of people had finally cleared. “What a huge success! People from all over the country came here. Wow,” says one of the salespeople.
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