Systembolaget
 |
|
| Government enterprise | |
| Industry | Liquor |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Headquarters | , Sweden |
|
Number of locations
|
426 (2013) |
|
Key people
|
Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, Chairman Magdalena Gerger, CEO |
| Products | Alcoholic beverages |
| Revenue |
 25,709 billion SEK (2013) |
 168 million SEK (2013) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
5,087 (2013) |
| Website | www.systembolaget.se |
Systembolaget (Swedish: [sʏˈsteːmbuːlɑːɡɛt], "the System Company"), colloquially known as systemet ("the system") or bolaget ("the company"), is a government-owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol by volume. Systembolaget also sells non-alcoholic beverages, although this product segment represents less than half a percent of the total sales of beverages. To buy alcoholic beverages at Systembolaget one has to be 20 years of age or older. At Swedish restaurants and bars the legal age to buy alcoholic beverages is 18 years (though bars and clubs may voluntarily set an age limit higher than 18 if they prefer).
There are several laws and rules governing how Systembolaget stores operate, such as:
Systembolaget has a strict monopoly status on alcohol sales to consumers in Sweden, except for restaurant and bars, where alcohol can be sold for immediate consumption (bottles must be opened and can't be brought home).
As with other government-owned monopolies within free trade areas, there are several aspects that govern the operation. All product selections and displays must be based on customer preferences, and every producer and distributor must be handled the same way. All marketing activities must be for the company itself and its own services, never for an individual product. This is also the reason why all products are taxed on alcohol content, not on price, and that all products are sold with the same profit margin. This explains why a cheap vodka can be seen as very expensive at 300 SEK (in 2011 prices) whilst Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky is of a similar price.
Beer is not so highly taxed anymore in order to protect Swedish breweries (and its employment opportunities) against purchase during travel abroad. It is (as of 2011[update]) 1.66 SEK per % alcohol and litre, which means 4.15 SEK for a 5% beer can (50 cl). Such a can usually costs about 10 SEK (1.05 EUR) at Systembolaget. For wine the tax follows a table. For 12% wine the tax is 21.58 SEK per litre. For distilled products the tax is 5.0141 SEK per % and litre (501.41 SEK per litre alcohol or 251 SEK for 1 litre of 50%).
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Wikipedia