History
Servaali was established in 1989 and first contacts to producers were made in 1992, mainly smaller speciality breweries in Holland and Belgium. Servaali was among the first companies to gain import and wholesale licenses of alcoholic products in 1995 when Finland joined the EU. Supermarket chain cooperation started in 1997 which together with new large suppliers helped the company in its first growing stages.
In the year 2000 organisational changes were made in a way to focus more on priority brands. A company called Trading House Piltz&Loukusa, which had the largest portfolio of malt whiskies in Finland, was also acquired in the same year.
In the year 2000 Servaali also established its own installation and maintenance department which was named Servaali Services. In 2003 Servaali announced the purchase of Scandinavian Beer Systems, the largest independent company providing maintenance and equipment service for draft products in addition to selling and importing coolers, refrigerators, columns etc. Servaali’s equipment department was renamed as SBS after this merger.
In September 2003 Servaali established a subsidiary in Tallinn, Estonia with the aim to start distribution on the Estonian market as from January 2004. This has succeeded well and Servaali Estonia has grown steadily ever since.
At the end of 2004 Servaali announced the purchase of the wine company Viinitalo In Vino Veritas. The operations of this company have been a part of Servaali as from January 2005. IVV’s wine portfolio based the platform for Servaali’s growing wine operations and complemented the existing portfolio well. This was another clear step from Servaali towards becoming a complete beverage house in all drinks categories.
Servaali also took over the business from Relive Trading at the same time, a company which was the importer of Saku beer to Finland. A new logistics center which combined all logistical operations and offices of Servaali in one place opened at Vantaa, just north of Helsinki, in March 2005. At the same time, logistics was outsourced to the Danish company DSV.
Servaali’s strong growth continued in 2006. In October 2006 Servaali purchased all operations of wine agency Oy Hjelt Ab and importer/wholesaler Valdosta Oy. This transaction strengthened Servaali’s wine portfolio and increased the amount of listings in Alko.
In January 2007 Servaali strengthened its position in the Finnish wine market by acquiring Iivonen Wines & Spirits Oy. According to the agreement signed, a considerable amount of wine and sparkling wine listings, as well as listings in cognac and calvados, were transferred to Servaali Oy. With this agreement it can be stated that the two year project of building a wine portfolio for Servaali has been completed.
In Spring 2008 Servaali started export operations where the focus have been Russia and Denmark.
In 2008 Servaali acquired a company called Resta Club Oy which was merged together with SBS to Restaservaali. Restaservaali is one of the leading providers of restaurant and hotel equipment, kitchen technique, dispenser equipment and furniture.
