Ministry of Trade and Industry does not envisage speedy arrival of wines in supermarkets

Mauri Pekkarinen

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The Director General of Finland's Ministry of Trade and Industry, Bo Göran Eriksson, does not believe that wines are likely to be sold in Finnish supermarkets any time soon. As the chairman of a committee that has been examining issues related to retail trade, including opening hours and deregulation, Eriksson feels this is not yet the right time to make any decisions on the matter.
      According to Eriksson, the consequences of last year's sharp drop in alcohol prices, as well as the massive cheap imports of alcohol from Estonia, have not prepared the ground properly for action to put wines on supermarket shelves.
     
The report will be handed to the Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen next week. It is to be the basis for the government's report on the issue, which is to be submitted to Parliament in the autumn.
      Eriksson says that the trend is toward more liberal opening hours for supermarkets. The opening hours for hardware and furniture outlets could be totally liberated, and supermarkets could be open every Sunday from May to the end of December, according to the committee.
      At the same time, Finnish retailers of current consumer goods have long been calling for wines up to a certain strength to be sold in supermarkets. According to Osmo Laine, managing director of Päivittäistavarakauppa ry, the benefit for consumers would be EUR 77 million.
     
The calculation is based on the presumption that the sales would increase by 20% while the gross margin on sales would drop from 36% to 20%. The current consumer goods sector would account for 75% of the sales of light alcoholic beverages. The number of the sales outlets for mild alcoholic beverages would increase tenfold or to about 3000, Laine estimates. At present the state-owned Alko holds a retail monopoly on over-the-counter sales of wines and spirits.
      In addition, argues Osmo Laine, the benefit for the consumer in the form of other deregulation measures and a reduction in VAT on foodstuffs would amount to a total sum of EUR 790 million.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Retailers edge closer to regular Sunday opening in ministry proposals (2.6.2005)
  Retail organization calls on EU to dismantle Alko monopoly (3.2.2005)

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