the beverage group

Requests for tender

A request for tender is formulated for each launch on the basis of the Launch Plan and specifies in detail

the type of product that Systembolaget is looking for.

 

Systembolaget is extremely strict when it comes to the bids, if they are not perfectly matched to the specifications of the tender,

or not filled in correctly, they are binned at once.

Systembolaget have to treat everyone the same, and if they allowed one to add or change information post deadline,

then they would have to allow them all, which would be impossible to handle.

It is very important to choose an importer who understands the procedure and can help find the most suitable tenders to enter the wines into.

 

The request for tender specifies, for example, the segment, price, and flavour description.

The Supplier’s offer must correspond to the tender and all informations must perfectly match to the specifications of the tender

(vintage, volume, sugar content, origin etc). 

Systembolaget eaven specify style in tenders – if they are asking for a traditional Rioja and producer send one in a modern style,

it will not win the tender no matter how good it is.”

 

It is key that the producer has secured the volume and quality before entering a bid. If a producer cannot deliver after winning a tender, or ends up delivering a wine other than the one sent for tasting, they might lose their winning bid – and it will go on record for future offers.

 

Once the submitted tenders have been reviewed and approved,  the purchasers request product samples within 15 working days

after submission of paperwork.

 

Please be aware that after the deadline, we are not permitted to add or change any information within submitted tender!

 

 

Evaluation of Offers

In order to be evaluated the Supplier’s offer (including, where necessary, the subsequent provision of offer samples) must correspond to Systembolaget's request to tender,be accurate and completely filled in, and must have been received by Systembolaget by the due date.

 

The Offer must not relate to Items that are already included in the Set Range.
Offers that fulfil these criteria will be evaluated on price, previous experience of the producer concerned and its work on product quality , other business considerations, judged quality, accessible volume and estimated consumer demand.

 

After the evaluation Systembolaget will decide which offers are to be rejected without testing and which offers are to proceed to a request for sample testing.

The Supplier shall be notified of a rejection or a request for sample testing at the latest fifteen (15) Working Days after the deadline for submission of offers.

This applies to all requests to tender with the exception of requests to tender for TSE Items and TSLS Items which are purchased on the basis of a standing request for tender.

 

 

Offer Samples - preparation

The producer and importer have between 3 weeks and 2 months to submit samples.

 

FOR TANK SAMPLES

If you as a producer will be submitting tank samples or hand blended wines which may not be microbiologically stable

here are some important things to remember before you send the tender samples

 

-  Wine Clarity/Cold stability:

The tender samples must have the same treatments as the final product will and therefore must be filtered and cold stable

if the final product will be!

If you submit cloudy samples the monopoly may reject them and if so they will not be tasted.

 

-  Filter Pre-treatment:
Please make sure that you have correctly treated your paper filters with citric acid before

filtering the wine and have flushed the filters sufficiently with water and enough wine to avoid “cardboard” or “dusty” taint

in the sample bottles.

 

-  Bottle Stability:

Your samples will not be tasted by the Monopoly immediately!!!

It is important that samples are prepared properly so that they are still healthy and fresh for up to 5 weeks.

This is also important due to the fact that if your samples reach the “final tasting” the bottles may be open for up to 6 hours before being re-tasted,

so it is imperative that S02 levels are sufficient and the wines have been filtered and are clean.

 

- Bottle Shock and closures:

Please give thought to problems of bottle shock and the tendency of young wine tank

samples to become reductive under screwcap. Proper winemaking techniques to minimize reductive characters should be used.

To avoid reductive characters and TCA taint we prefer that you use synthetic plastic corks to seal your samples, absolutely no composite corks!

 

- Quality Control:

To facilitate consistency and quality control please designate one person at your winery to be

responsible for the creation of all tender samples.

Please have your winemaker evaluate one before shipping samples to us to avoid sending defective wines and to prevent extra shipping costs.

 

- Our Recommendations for Tender samples:

Based on our experience over the years and the common problems we have seen with Tender samples we would like to make the following list of recommendations known to you.

The reality is we only have ONE chance to show your wine in the best way possible!

 

1) Dry wines should be polish filtered to with 1 micron, sweet wines sterile filtered.

2) Wines are to be cold and protein stable.

3) 26-30 ppm Free Sulphur Dioxide

4) Bottles preferably sealed with synthetic plastic corks or screwcap

5) C02 used to protect all white wines and Nitrogen to protect all reds during all steps of blending,

filtration and bottling.

6) Oxygen pickup of less than 1 ppm

 

Please feel free to contact us regarding these recommendations and your current procedures.

Obviously each wine must be treated differently and the final decision belongs to the winemaker but Systembolaget is very strict

and we must treat all offer samples exactly as the finished wine will be.

 

Let us work together to ensure your wines are displayed in their top form.

 

Sample tasting

Systembolaget’s sampling room takes charge of the product samples and prepares to test them.

The order in which the tasting panel test the samples is always random and samples are always tested blind.

The panel evaluates the products’ quality in relation to the flavour description in the request for tender.

The product or products that receive the highest score after blind tasting, and have the highest internal priority are bought in and launched.

Tasting results will be published within 15 working days after the final dead-line.

 

Tasting Procedure:

In order to guarantee a fully independent and fair judgment,  the samples in the tender are tasted by a jury made up of 3 persons.

The tasting procedure is based solely on the sensory analysis such as the general taste of the product, the aroma, appearance, flavour, mouth feel or any other organoleptic criteria in relation to the flavour description in the request for tender. 

To ensure impartial judgment of a wine, the samples are poured in the separate rum and served without the tasters having seen the label. 

 

Tasting Scores:

 

Pre-tasting: 4 or 6 points (16 – 18 points – final tasting)

Final tasting 6-9 points (minimum 19 points to win)

1 Defect

2 Completely different from taste/style description

3 Different from taste/style description

4 Slightly different from taste/style description

5 Consistent with description but with negative sensory qualities

6 Consistent with description without any positive sensory qualities

7 Consistent with description with positive sensory qualities

8 Consistent with description with excellent sensory qualities

9 Consistent with description with exceptional sensory qualities

 

Additional to the official points the panel members also give a priority. This is a number 1-5; the lower priority point, the better.

If the wine receives priority 1 by all three panel members it will win the tasting.

In rare cases where also priorities are the same the responsible buyer’s choice decides. Only the winner is launched.

 

The winning sample is undergoing The quality assurance process, one of the most central areas of the System's purchase process.

 

 

When researching the Swedish market, a good place to start is with the Launch Plan and sales figures.

Look at what sells well on the Swedish market today, and at what price, style and quality they are offering.

Systembolaget buyers and category managers are often present at the international wine fairs, where they may be willing to meet and talk, and perhaps given an idea of how much interest there is in specific regions and styles.

 

There is, however no point in trying to give bottles or fancy dinner invitations to the buyers, as Systembolaget has an extremely strict anty-corruption system in place, and the buyers are careful and regulated in their interactions with producers and importers.

 

There are no guarantees in volumes or launches, so your whole business model can not build on this one buyer,

but if you get into at the monopoly and sell well, it is a great client.

 

 

 

 

 

CHECKLIST FOR ENGAGING WITH SYSTEMBOLAGET
 

Research. Where does the product fit in the market?

Find a good importer. Approach them personally.

Only enter tenders with products that perfectly match the specifications.

Only enter tenders if the necessary volumes are available.

Think long term.

Be aware there are no guarantees of success.