MonksInk was set up as “something a little different” for the monastery to offer as a business.
The monastery’s new business was reported on by GlobeNewsWire, with the Benedictine monks at St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California relating why they have decided to enter the printer consumables business.
The abbey is only 90 minutes’ drive from Los Angeles, with the monks launching the business two years ago after a suggestion to the Abbot from a visiting monk. The abbey had tried to partner with another monastery for a business, but this deal fell through, and so the monks turned to the ink and toner cartridge business on the recommendation, with original, compatible and remanufactured consumables offered by the company.
Father Joseph Brennan, Prior of the Order and part of the monastery for nearly 20 years, stated: “We liked the idea of selling these products. We needed to do something a little different. Every monastery has something unique about them.
“For example, a monastery in Louisiana makes soap. Some make jellies and jams. The Camaldolese make amazing fruitcake. But we never developed anything like that. Until now, we only produced ceramics, and even these were designed by a brother monk in Belgium. We really needed to do something different. MonksInk was a good fit.”
The company’s website and a phone system allow customers to order from the abbey, with the monks getting “up to speed quickly” with the industry and the technology, and the company has a product selection that apparently “meets or exceeds what one could find at any big box office supply store”, with ink and toner cartridges “for every make and model of printer, fax and copy machine”.
The news site noted that whilst “business may be booming”, the monks see the business as “much more than earning a healthy profit to cover the mounting costs of repairing their aging monastery, upgrading their out-grown chapel and providing for a multitude of spiritual, youth and community service ministries”, but more as for offering hospitality and service to people.
Father Joseph added: “The Benedictine motto is Nihil amori Christi praeponere—prefer nothing to the love of Christ. St. Benedict insists in his Rule that we monks welcome each person, each visitor, as Christ himself. Tangible hospitality and service. Personal attention.
“These things are very important to us and they are echoed in how we run MonksInk. Serving businesses with something they already need is more than a great business idea. It also gives us the opportunity to serve and welcome each corporate professional as Christ. With MonksInk, the monks are involved. Whatever we do has to be a service and meaningful for others. In our case, this includes serving corporate America with ink and toner cartridges at MonksInk.com.”
A previous monastery-run cartridge business, LaserMonks, was profiled by US television a few years ago, as The Recycler previously reported.