is the national
Alcoholic Beverage retailing
Monopoly in
Finland . Essentially, it's the only place in the country where you can buy
Beer over 4,7%
ABV ,
Wine (except in vineyards) and
Spirit s, although you can buy
Non-alcoholic Beverages and drinks accessories elsewhere. Alko has an obligation to sell drinks with lower alcohol content than 4,7% and non-alcoholic alternatives, but in practice there is very a limited stock of 4,7% beer, cider and non-alcoholic drinks available as these drinks are more expensive than in supermarkets. As the only means to buy strong retail alcohol in Finland, Alko has quite extensive sortiment of products ranging from rare wines to bulk vodka. Wine selection has been enlarged in last decades as there has been an increase in consumption and government drive to change Finnish drinking habits to "European" style, which means a move from hard liqueur to wine and beer. Nowadays wines occupy most of the shelf space in an Alko shop. Beer selection is concentrated on a wide selection of high-quality strong beers from all major beer-producing countries. Hard liqueur shelves have several Finnish brands of vodka and all major types of hard liqueur. Alko sells also "own" drinks, which are tradional products and not sold abroad. Many of these date back to the first products launched after the end of the
Prohibition . These are usually for mixing drinks.
It is a government-owned enterprise reporting to the Finnish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. It has 314 shops and 142 order points throughout the country. Because of the Alcohol Act, it can't have a
Display , so it usually has just a display of
Wine Glass es and
Catalogue s. Alko can advertise (in practice manufacturers, not Alko, advertise their products) beverages that contain less than 22% alcohol. Printed catalogue has info and prices for all products but Internet pages can show only beverages with less than 22% alcohol. However private individuals have published unofficial over 22% price lists in the Internet. On the
3rd February 2005 , the Finnish Food Marketing Association (a pressure group of the country's supermarkets like
K-Kauppa and
S-Group ) asked the European Union to challenge the legality of Alko's monopoly, which it disputes.
,
Helsinki .]]
To buy alcohol under 22% you have to be 18 years old. Over 22% you have to be over 20 years of age. When asked at checkout, young person has to prove his/her age with an official ID (only driving licence, ID card or passport are accepted). Alcohol will not be sold to drunk customers or when there is a reason to suspect misuse or unauthorized delivery to a person, who would not be authorized to buy.
During the years
1919 to
1932 , the distribution and consumption of
Alcoholic Beverage s was forbidden in
Finland . When the prohibition was lifted by the
Finnish Government in
1932 following a
Referendum , they created a company called ''Oy Alkoholiliike Ab'' which was fully owned by the government. In
1969 the company's name was changed to ''Oy Alko Ab''. This Alko not only distributed, but imported and manufactured alcohol. In 1995, when Finland joined the EU, the monopolies in production and import had to be lifted. Thus, the corporation was separated into ''Alko'' (distribution), ''Primalco'' (production) and ''Havistra'' (bulk sales), which formed the ''Altia Group''; only Alko retained a monopoly. In 1998, Alko was separated from the Altia Group, and is now entirely separated from it, although Alko continues to be the major customer of Altia. Altia Group (with Primalco and Havistra) was reorganized later to the current
Altia .
- Alko was known as 'pitkäripainen' (tall doorhandle) in common language for decades as Alko shops had same model tall doorhandles.
- Back in the day when Alko was instituted, bottles were kept bottom toward customers, not displaying the etiquette, on the wall behind the counter. Customer had to know what he wanted and ask the clerk for it. For example, Egri Bikaver was known as ''Erkin pikakivääri'' "Erkki's machinegun" among many customers.
- Alko shops were among the last groceries-style shops in Finland to switch over from desk service to self-service. This happened in the eighties.
