A new alcohol law allowing stronger drinks to be sold in food stores is expected to be processed quickly by Parliament's Grand Committee next Wednesday. If approved, the new proposal will go back to MPs for another vote before the rules on alcohol sales can change.
The draft law extends the range of alcoholic beverages available in grocery stores to include beverages of up to 8 percent alcohol. These include beers, ciders, wines and certain lagers.
Mixed drinks, such as long drinks and hard seltzers, will remain limited to 5.5 percent alcohol in shops.
Currently any drink above 5.5 percent alcohol has to be purchased from the state-run chain, Alko.
Law to drive industry investments
Yle asked several market players what kind of drinks they would be offering if the new law comes into force.
Laitila Wirvoitusjuomatehdas will tweak its 8.5 percent lager, Kukko Tuima, to an 8 percent drink, in order to supply grocery stores. Their British-style 6.5 percent Kukko Strong Bitter, will also become available.
For Sinebrychoff, the change will primarily affect the sale of their beers, but only in a minor way.
"We don't see this as a radical change. The majority of consumers still want their beer at 4-5 percent," says Niklas Rinne, Marketing Director for Sinebrychoff beer.
Sinebrychoff will initially offer its stronger beverages currently available from Alko, such as its 8 percent Karhu, 7.2 percent Koff Porter and Stallion, and 6 percent Brooklyn Pulp Art Hazy IPA.
Antti Airaksinen, Marketing Director at Olvi Brewery, told Yle he is pleased that supermarket customers may have more options after the reform.
"Finns are a beer nation. The law change will open up an even wider range of different beers as distribution expands," Airaksinen says.
He believes that Olvi Tuplapukki, which has been tweaked to 8 percent, will end up in the shopping baskets of many beer lovers.
Cheaper stronger long drinks
According to Hartwall CEO Kalle Järvinen, the public debate has gone astray, as many people are under the impression that the law change would not apply to long drinks.
Higher quality longdrinks are gin-based mixed drinks, but cheaper fermented wine-based long drinks are also available. Mixed drinks fall outside the scope of the looser rules, so the stronger long drinks on store shelves will be the cheaper and lower quality versions.
One such fermented long drink product was Hartwall's Otto Lemonade, which was discontinued in 2016. Now the brand is being revived by Hartwall as an 8 percent version.
"The law's restrictions on production will result in cheaper strong long drinks being sold in the shops," says Järvinen.
Sweet sparkling wines will thrive
Managing Director at Laitila Wirvoitusjuomatehdas, Olli Heikkilä, says that in a year or so Laitila's 4.7 percent Skumppa sparkling wine will be in grocery stores in a stronger version than currently available.
Hartwall is also importing red, white, rosé and sparkling wines at around 5.5-8 percent alcohol in order to supply grocery stores.
The 5.5 percent wines have not been a sales success to date, but grocery stores are confident of an increase in wine sales thanks to the law reform.
According to wine expert, Jouko Mykkänen, sweet sparkling wines in particular may see an increase in supermarket sales, but red and white wines are likely to be more popular at Alko even after the law change.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.