Which Alcohol Can Actually Be Delivered to Your Home? ABV Limits Explained
Finland’s new alcohol legislation will make home delivery of alcoholic beverages possible. The first deliveries could begin in January 2027. The legislation sets clear alcohol strength limits that businesses and delivery drivers must follow.
Different limits apply to alcoholic beverages purchased and delivered from Finnish retail stores compared with those purchased from Alko or through cross-border distance sales. Are you familiar with the rules?
When planning alcohol deliveries, you need to consider both the drink’s alcohol content and where it was purchased and collected for delivery. The product name or country of manufacture alone does not determine which delivery rules apply.
Finnish Retail Stores Can Deliver Fermented Alcoholic Beverages up to 8% ABV
The legislation distinguishes between alcohol strength limits based on how a drink is produced and where it is sold. The delivery rules and strength limits depend on whether the beverage is produced by fermentation and whether it is purchased and delivered from a Finnish retail store, Alko or through cross-border distance sales.
For alcoholic beverages purchased from Finnish retail stores, the limit is 8.0% alcohol by volume (ABV) for fermented drinks and 5.5% ABV for drinks produced by other methods. In practice, this means that beers and wines containing 8% alcohol may be eligible for delivery from Finnish retail stores, while fermented drinks exceeding 8% ABV cannot be delivered from these stores to a customer’s home. For drinks produced by methods other than fermentation, such as spirit-based drinks, the limit is 5.5% ABV.
Understanding these limits is essential both when planning your business operations and when making deliveries. A drink’s production method determines which strength limit applies. The product name alone, such as beer, wine or long drink, does not determine whether it can be delivered. The rules for Alko and cross-border distance sales also differ from the strength limits that apply to Finnish retail stores.
Where the beverage was purchased | Fermented beverages | Beverages produced by other methods |
Finnish retail outlets (stores, kiosks, restaurants, breweries) | Up to 8.0% ABV | Up to 5.5% ABV |
Alko | All alcoholic beverages | All alcoholic beverages |
Cross-border distance sales | All alcoholic beverages | All alcoholic beverages |
Different Rules Apply to Drinks Purchased from Alko or Abroad
The new legislation applies alcohol strength limits differently to beverages purchased from Finnish retail stores, the state-owned alcohol retailer Alko and through cross-border distance sales. Stronger drinks can also be delivered from Alko. Unlike deliveries from other Finnish retail stores, Alko deliveries may include fermented beverages exceeding 8% ABV and beverages produced by other methods exceeding 5.5% ABV.
In cross-border distance sales, a customer purchases alcoholic beverages from another EU country, for example through an online store, and the seller or a party acting on the seller’s behalf arranges their transport to Finland. The 8.0% and 5.5% limits applicable to Finnish retail stores do not apply to these deliveries. However, transporting and handing over the drinks in Finland requires an alcohol delivery licence, and the handover to the recipient must comply with the requirements of Finland’s Alcohol Act.
The sales channel therefore plays a key role when it comes to stronger wines and spirits. The strength limits for deliveries from Finnish retail stores cannot be applied to all alcohol deliveries. Under the Alcohol Act, an alcohol delivery licence covers the transport and handover of alcoholic beverages sold through Finnish retail stores, Alko or cross-border distance sales. This is an important distinction for online retailers and delivery services, for example.
Deliveries cannot all be treated in the same way: the delivery process must account for both the source of the drink and its alcohol content.
Alcohol Strength Is Only One Part of the Delivery Rules
A drink’s alcohol content is not the only thing to consider when making a delivery. Alcoholic beverages may only be handed over to a recipient when the legal requirements are met. The person making the delivery is responsible for checking, for example, that the recipient meets the age requirement and assessing whether they are intoxicated. Alcohol may only be handed over during specified hours, and restrictions also apply to delivery locations. The alcohol delivery licence holder must ensure that anyone delivering alcoholic beverages on its behalf holds an Alcohol Delivery Passport.
The Alcohol Delivery Passport helps ensure that delivery personnel understand the rules and can apply them when dealing with customers. The Alcohol Delivery Passport test covers how the law applies to situations that may arise during home deliveries. Alcohol strength limits are one important consideration, but there are many other rules to learn. Trainify’s Alcohol Delivery Passport study materials cover these in detail.
Get Your Alcohol Delivery Passport for Work
Are you starting work in alcohol delivery or looking to expand your skills? Through Trainify, you can prepare for and take an Alcohol Delivery Passport test. When you purchase a test, you can access Trainify’s study materials at a special price. You will receive your Alcohol Delivery Passport after passing the official test.
MORE INFORMATION Explore Alcohol Delivery Passport study materials
