Bargain Beer In Baerum

Baerum – 26th May

There was no exploring for us today as we had a lot of catching up to do on domestic chores, computer admin, weekly planning to the big city and resting. The temperature in Baerum (our suburb) was about 26deg most of day, with intermittent thunder storms, but hardly any rain.

Today’s ABBA tribute is ‘Take a Chance on Me’ (1977) is for the way Roger selects his beer at the supermarket. He can’t read the labels, he has no idea which brands are any good, he isn’t sure if they are reasonably priced, but he ‘Takes A Chance’ on a brand and hopes for the best. The photo is of three different beers from each Scandinavian country we have been to: Tuborg – brewed in Denmark, Falcon – brewed in Sweden and Ringnes – brewed in Norway (Oslo). All three breweries however are owned by Carlsberg, Denmark.

Even though Carlsberg own those breweries they obviously don’t control the pricing which varies from NZ$1.07 to NZ$4.90 per can. Norway are, of course, the dearest and that’s not including the can return deposit, but does included 25%VAT/GST; most other food items only incur 15%. Before I explain why Norway is so expensive I will just clarify that Roger didn’t pay $4.90 a can. Cans are sold individually, so if you don’t want a six-pack you just take what you want from the plastic wrap. We were only charged the single can price for a six-pack, so the per-can price worked out to be NZ$0.87.

Norway once introduced Prohibition, but just like New Zealand it didn’t solve any issues around alcohol consumption, in fact it exacerbated drunkenness, so the prohibition ended in 1926. The Norwegian government still has regulations in place for the sale of alcohol, they say for health, religious and social reasons, but Norwegians believe it is for revenue/tax collecting. Below are some of the regulations and restrictions:

  • Beer may be sold at a supermarket but not between 6.15pm on Saturday and Monday morning.
  • Alcohol over 4.7%AV can’t be sold at a supermarket and must be purchased from a government controlled liquor store; there is no alternative.
  • VAT/GST is higher on alcohol, tobacco and sugar products
  • The drinking age for spirits is 20, but 18 for beer and wine.
  • There is a strict ban on alcohol advertising
  • The government controls alcohol imports, so you must declare any alcohol at the border, they are one of the few European countries we have been to that still have border patrols. We could drive straight through the “nothing to declare” gate but they were spot-checking cars because, as mentioned in an earlier post, it is cheaper to buy alcohol, without restrictions, over the border in Sweden.      

There ends today’s lesson on alcohol consumption. Roger enjoyed his cheap beer, but I’m not liking his chances of buying anymore at that ridiculously low price. Meanwhile I’m being starved of lollies because United Arab Emirates, Denmark and Norway all have a fat tax war on sugar-laden products and I didn’t think to stock up in Sweden.