MONKE-BUSINESS…
MONKE-BUSINESS…
The monks on Caldey Island are trying high-tech methods to sell their traditional food products
BROTHER Gildas is a jolly, twinkly-eyed fellow who is also given to plain talking, the ideal "front of the act", as he puts it, for the Reformed Cistercian community of monks who own Caldey Island, two miles off Tenby.
He also handpacks the shortbread baked in the monastery and hopes to be kept extra busy with the communitys new webshop – being launched in time for Christmas – which is their latest income-generating venture.
"We aim to be self-sufficient, following the Rule of St Benedict, so income is paramount, and living on an island is not cheap," he says.
For years, islanders – currently 17 monks and 30 lay people – have traditionally farmed small dairy and beef herds, and boosted revenue through the summer tourist trade.
Monks first inhabited Caldey 1500 years ago and its a quiet place of churches, winding lanes and a cluster of cottages and shops beside the village green. In the 1950s, the monks ventured into the perfume business, and more recently, herb growing, shortbread and chocolate making.
But business rates and increasing red tape are hitting their modest scale of operation. "I think EC regulations are killing the British food trade. There are so many regulations now to do with milk products," Brother Gildas laments. Theyve had to abandon the dairy herd as uneconomical and no longer sell home-made icecream and yogurts to visitors. They have also been forced to source chocolate solids from the mainland, which are then blended on the island to make their Caldey chocolate bars and shapes.
John Cattini, the communitys lay commercial manager, is designing the webshop and is hopeful it will open up new markets for Caldey products to overcome such setbacks. "Weve already had e-mail orders from America and Bavaria," he says.
In summer, two monks make around 30 boxes of shortbread a day, which they fit in between the
communitys seven prayer meetings, the first at 3.30am. But in winter when the island is closed to visitors, production can be stepped up.
"Our shortbread is a plain, simple-tasting biscuit, made from the purest ingredients we can find," says Brother Gildas, who was involved in the original recipe experiments 10 years ago and helps with quality control. (He is trying to lose weight!) "I would describe our chocolate as creamy."
Caldey perfume, already popular, should do well, too. Number One (light, with undertones of jasmine and rose) and Island Bouquet (classically floral) are current bestsellers, and the monks have branched out into a range of lotions and aftershaves which they process on the island. They handpick island gorse for perfume sachets and they are growing herbs for sale.
If all goes well, says Brother Gildas, they will launch new products. "Perhaps a chocolate wholemeal cookie, individual handmade chocolates and even carrot cake. Depending on how many herbs we can grow, we would like to go into sauces and essences, too."
Sian Ellis
Caldey Island web-site: www.caldey-island.co.uk