The major problem with SB and a monopoly is that it becomes a one size fits all. And I must admit for a large share of the Swedish population that works well, with a good assortment of wine, beer and spirits. But for me as a wine-nerd it works less well. The standard assortment in SB has too be able to serve all of Sweden – 9 million people. That only leaves big suppliers of “basic” wines to qualify into that, i.e, wines being available in all stores all the time.

Then there are new wines coming in once or twice a month, in small quantities. Here you can find interesting wines, but they are in high demand and small supply. Result: people stand in line to get those wines:
http://preludium.blogg.se/images/dsc_0010_1165237635.jpg

So if you do not have the opportunity to stand in line a few hours to get your wine you are out of luck for the gems

Then there is an assortment where you can order from the importers. I think SB had to have this not to discriminate vs anybody and follow the EU rules. However they do not promote this and make it easy for you to do these orders (2009 there is still no way to order over the internet (!!!!), and of course no way to get delivery). Here you can find some interesting wines to, basically via mail order.

So for me as a wine-nerd I think SB gives a bit of a boring choices for wine, and I miss talking to a wine merchant as in e.g., Italy that is specialized on a region etc. and have wine from small interesting producers.

But for the majority of people in Sweden, buying masses of beer and cheap wine in Tetra Pak SB works well.

Contrary to most published annual reports in the Systembolaget one you have to dig deep to find any financial data. But if you do you can read that the profit was 337 million SEK in 2007 and 559 M SEK in 2007. Without profit motive?

That’s perhaps the beauty of monopolies?

It is also worth noting that the consumption of alcohol has gone up more in Sweden than in almost any other western country.

http://monopolet.blogspot.com/2005/11/alkoholkonsumtionen-kar-mest-i-sverige.html

And in a recent study of 15 EU countries Sweden was the country where wine consumption was up most: +9%, well ahead of the #2: Ireland with +3.6%. http://monopolet.blogspot.com/2008/05/sverige-kar-mest-vindrickande-inom-eu.html

Is this a good measure of a “successful model”?

Another interesting aspect of the Systembolaget policies: They have very successfully launched bag-in-box wines, which now represent some 55% of total consumption in Sweden. BiB is by some considered a key factor in increasing alcohol consumption and “hidden domestic” alcoholism so Systembolaget’s enthusiasm for it seems contradictory.

Likewise, Systembolaget is transforming most of its 450+ outlets into self-service shops (they were previously over-the-counter shops), making it easier to browse and pick-and-choose as you want before you put the bottles in your shopping cart. This is perhaps not the best way to reduce or restrict alcohol consumption (which is one of Systembolaget’s aims).

So the position of Systembolaget seems highly contradictory.

And one can also wonder how important a tool it is. Only some 50% of all alcohol consumed in Sweden originates from Systembolaget. The rest comes from other sources. Can the monopoly really be considered an effective tool with barely a 50% market share?

“A recent study suggests that eliminating the monopoly would be detrimental to Swedish public health.”
— The “study” is actually not based on any research. It was written on by a group of “experts” (whose starting point and opinions will be of no surprise to anyone) who sat down and basically asked themselves the question “If we make a guess, how much will alcohol consumption go up if….?”. Call it a study if you wish but it was not based on research. A good example of Systembolaget scaremongering propaganda.

“Unlike some state-run systems I have known Systembolaget seems to be relatively responsive to consumer needs (perhaps Swedish readers can leave comments regarding this observation).”
— Perhaps, if you compare it to other state-run systems (like what?). But if you compare it to a free market model the Swedish consumers have a lamentable wine selection and generally poor service. (Although most Swedes actually believes the opposite. The Systembolaget has a very effective publicity department with a substantial budget…)