The (small-scale) light at the end of the tunnel

Starting this summer, visitors in Sweden will be able to buy wine and other alcoholic products directly from small-scale producers, rather than, as it has been for decades, from the retail monopoly Systembolaget.

The last few years have been extraordinarily tough for Swedish food and drink producers. Rising costs have hurt sales and eroded profitability. According to the government agency Statistics Sweden, the food industry made a loss in both 2022 and 2023. This has never happened before.

It’s a battered industry that now enters 2025. But also, a hopeful one. Inflation and interest rates are coming down, and the consumers are slowly but surely finding their way back to the high-quality, sustainably produced food and drink that is the trademark of our member companies.

Photo: Aroma Godisfabriken

And that’s not all. Starting this summer, Swedish small-scale producers of alcohol will be allowed to sell limited amounts of their products directly to visitors. So-called farm sales of alcohol are a matter of course for the rest of Europe, but for Sweden, it’s a long-overdue freedom reform.

So, when you travel to Sweden this summer, be sure to visit our amazing local producers of wine, beer, cider and spirits. They’re more ready than ever to give you a taste of Sweden at its finest.

Björn Hellman.