"Such an alarm system does indeed cost €4000 [$6700]. But we already had a large part of it because we have a beer store. There was already a scanner at the exit and the cafe is a part of the business," he explained.
Although pricey, it's far from being the most creative way to curb the thefts.
In Ghent, the Dulle Griet bar, which offers 500 types of beer (quick, add it to your bucket list), has adopted a cheaper approach: "Anyone who drinks our house beer must hand over his shoe," Alex Devriendt told the Belgian newspaper the Nieuwsblad.
"We then put them in a basket that we pull up against the ceiling. The basket has now become an attraction, but for us it remains a guarantee."
Glasses at the bar are quite expensive, Devriendt explainsd, as they have them made especially.
"We have to supplement our inventory every day. Tourists simply want a souvenir. Some even try to throw those old-fashioned billboards off my wall. Certainly in the winter a lot disappear - [patrons] have thick coats on. In the summer they can hide the loot less well."