For many tourists they are part of the Swedish folklore: the shops where you get your wine or aquavit, yes: you have to get it. In Sweden, only the state is allowed to sell spirits with an alcohol content of more than 3.5 percent. The Swedes simply call the monopoly stores “the system” (systemet) or “the company” (bolaget), which is neither meant as a mafia allusion nor as a bitter cursing of the pig system System company.
In fact, Systembolaget has mostly taken first place in the annual trust barometer of the non-profit Swedish media academy in recent years, ahead of the police, Reichsbank and Ikea. So the Swedes trust no institution more than this, in the Covid year 2021 alone, Systembolaget had to be overtaken by the health care system.
Beer is only available warm
The high level of trust is also due to the fact that Systembolaget is not profit-oriented. The company replaced a system of alcohol rationing in 1955, and the state advised the company on its way to contribute to a society “in which alcoholic beverages are enjoyed with health considerations”. The company has given itself a code of conduct and sometimes throws Belarusian sparkling wine out of the program if it sees “democracy and human rights” in danger. The shops only sell to people over the age of 20, there are no discounts or special offers. Everyone can buy as much as they want, but customers should not be tempted to make spontaneous purchases, which is why you will never find chilled beer there.
Naturally, the Swedes watch every step of this institution in uncharted territory with great attention. This is also the case now, when the company has, according to its own words, reached a “milestone”: As of Monday this week, Systembolaget will be offering a home delivery service nationwide for the first time following pilot projects in some regions. It’s not cheap, the parcels will also be on the road for four to six days. Still a big step for a company that never wanted to make buying alcohol too easy for Swedes.
Alcohol consumption is falling steadily
The delivery service comes at a time when the country is already having a debate about a possible relaxation of alcohol policies. The times when the Swedes had to be called the “drunkest people in Europe” are long gone. Alcohol consumption is falling steadily, today a Swede consumes an average of 8.7 liters of pure alcohol per year – two liters less than the German and a world away from the 46 liters that were probably at the beginning of the 19th century. At that time, amazed travelers to Sweden reported ten-year-olds who allegedly threw down whole glasses of brandy.
The abolition of the Systembolaget is not yet an issue. But at their party congress last week, for example, the Conservatives demanded that bars should finally be allowed to serve alcohol without obliging them to serve food at the same time. The big daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter supported the proposal. Title of her editorial: “The Guardianship of Alcohol Consumption Must End”.