No more abbey beer on barn shelves

The history of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais dates back more than 1,500 years. Since 2019 it has been producing its own beer in several varieties. It is the only monastery beer in Switzerland.

According to reports from Switzerland's French-language radio and television station, Radio Television Suisse (RTS), nine members of the monastery are said to have committed sexual assaults in the past.

The scandal also affected the economic activities of the monastery. According to 24 Hours, beverage retailer Amstein has removed Abbey beer from its range.

Coop also announced that it would no longer sell beer. “We independently recorded a decline in demand ahead of the media coverage,” Coop spokesman Caspar Frey told CH Media.

Three and a half years ago, Migros also parted ways with Doppler's More Heads for fear of damaging its image. At the time, reputation manager and management consultant Bernhard Bohoefer criticized the decision as premature.

In the case of monastery beer, he sees a different situation. “I can understand Coop not wanting to be associated with an organization facing allegations of abuse,” he says.

Pierre-Alain Cardeno, chairman of the brewery's board of directors, responded to the Cobb beer boycott, telling the newspaper: “I completely understand the decision.” But he regrets that beer marketing is mixed with aspects for which he is not responsible.