Chartreuse liqueur and Elixir de la Grande Chartreuse will become more scarce. The 24 monks of the Grande-Chartreuse monastery in Isère, who manage the Chartreuse Diffusion company, of which they are 100% shareholders, made the decision to reduce the growth of their activity during a general assembly held in March.
It is an activity considered polluting and invades the time dedicated to prayer, although the monks are helped by many laymen in their work. “Large productions pollute” and the monks do not want that, explains the Caves de la Chartreuse to Ouest-France.
Exports by… sailboat
Isère liqueur has had some success, with some 19th-century bottles even selling at auction. If half of the production is destined for the French market, the drink also enjoys an international reputation, especially on the other side of the Atlantic, and before which the monks intend to act. Without ending its exports, they plan instead to transport it to the United States by sailboat but in smaller quantities.
As Ouest-France indicates, this is not the first drop in determined production within the walls of the Isère monastery. In the last century, the annual production of the liquor created in 1840 was already limited to one million liters, that is, three times less than in 1889. The Caves de la Chartreuse specify that it was a “voluntary choice”.
More than 20 million euros of turnover in 2020
The Chartreuse Diffusion company has not communicated the extent of the decline in activity anticipated by the monks, of whom only two know the original recipe for the liquor that is hidden in a safe. But according to those around them, they just want to cover their costs: “Your goal is not to see your company listed on the stock market.” However, Chartreuse Diffusion’s turnover has been growing almost continuously since 2015 and amounted to €21 million in 2020.
Source: BFM TV
