Starting a RY...?

[bomecer]

Hey there,

I'm starting an RY with my improv team JadaJada Improv (www.jadajadaimprov.com) and hope to eventually open a theatre in Tampere.

While looking into the legalities and procedures, I noticed it says that we can "run a cafe in one location".

Does anyone know more about the limitations of the cafe? Can we serve alcohol? Are we able to set our own prices? Anyone know about buying in bulk in Finland?

Thanks for your help!

Trent

www.trentasaurus.com

[tjawatts]

Well for alcohol you would need a license. There is no rules about a cafe in the general RY law. What it says is

Section 5

Economic activities

An association may only practice a trade or other economic activity that has been provided for in its rules or that otherwise relates to the realisation of its purpose or that is to be deemed economically insignificant.

http://www.prh.fi/en/yhdistysrekisteri/ ... slaki.html

So you can run a cafe if it is inline with your purposes or isnt economically significant.

T

[AsaSmith]

I was told by a Finnish friend that alcohol that was sold from a sealed bottle was ok to sell without a licence apparently there are people supplying a late night after hours beer service in Helsinki without a licence as they only sold crates and sealed bottles of spirits. He mentioned that pumps and draught beer specifically needs a licence but again better to find out at the authorities or even better your local restaurant that only sells bottled beer. Dont know how true this is and dont know whether it will help you out but you never know

All the best with your endeavour have one on me!

Edit: Typo

[Upphew]

I was told by a Finnish friend that alcohol that was sold from a sealed bottle was ok to sell without a licence apparently there are people supplying a late night after hours beer service in Helsinki without a licence as they only sold crates and sealed bottles of spirits. He mentioned that pumps and draught beer specifically needs a licence but again better to find out at the authorities or even better your local restaurant that only sells bottled beer. Dont know how true this is and dont know whether it will help you out but you never know

You should inform your Finnish friend to check the law before giving false information...

THE ALCOHOL ACT
Chapter 4
Sale and other delivery of alcoholic beverages and spirits
and procurement of them for others
Retail trade
Section 14 (30.8.2002/764)
Retail trade licence

Retail trade of alcoholic beverages containing a maximum of 4.7 percentage by
volume ethyl alcohol, which are prepared through fermentation, may be carried on,
besides by the State Alcohol Monopoly, by whoever the licensing authority has granted a
retail licence.

http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1994/en19941143
and same in Finnish for your friend: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1994/19941143
Some more info in less legalese, in Finnish: http://www.valvira.fi/ohjaus_ja_valvont ... taismyynti

[Rosamunda]

Not only do you need a trading permit, you also need to take the Alcohol Pass (like the Hygiene Pass, but for serving alcohol).

And even if you are running a café without serving alcohol, you still need to obtain the Hygiene Pass and get a licence + inspection from the local municipality before you can open. The only exceptions seem to be for "Pop-Up" type restaurants which have no fixed location and no regular opening hours. But my guess is the authorities will soon start clamping down on those, it's only a matter of time before there is an outbreak of food poisoning! New restrictions are coming in on cash sales, meaning that all traders will have to be equipped with electronic tills issuing receipts, like in Sweden.

You could take a look at the Martha's association. http://www.martat.fi/in_english/ They are an association of Finnish women (a sort of Women's Institute) that exists all over Finland. They are a non-profit organisation but they do have a successful café, deli and restaurant in the Kamppi district of Helsinki. http://www.ravintolamartta.fi/
My understanding is that the café, deli and restaurant are run as an Oy (limited company) - so from a legal point of view they are separate. Without looking at the statutes, I would assume that the "ry" is the main shareholder of the "oy".

So it is possible to run an association and finance it with profits from a commercial activity but you have to get the legal framework right and compy with all the Food and Safety regulations.

[AsaSmith]

I was told by a Finnish friend that alcohol that was sold from a sealed bottle was ok to sell without a licence apparently there are people supplying a late night after hours beer service in Helsinki without a licence as they only sold crates and sealed bottles of spirits. He mentioned that pumps and draught beer specifically needs a licence but again better to find out at the authorities or even better your local restaurant that only sells bottled beer. Dont know how true this is and dont know whether it will help you out but you never know

You should inform your Finnish friend to check the law before giving false information...

THE ALCOHOL ACT
Chapter 4
Sale and other delivery of alcoholic beverages and spirits
and procurement of them for others
Retail trade
Section 14 (30.8.2002/764)
Retail trade licence

Retail trade of alcoholic beverages containing a maximum of 4.7 percentage by
volume ethyl alcohol, which are prepared through fermentation, may be carried on,
besides by the State Alcohol Monopoly, by whoever the licensing authority has granted a
retail licence.

http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1994/en19941143
and same in Finnish for your friend: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1994/19941143
Some more info in less legalese, in Finnish: http://www.valvira.fi/ohjaus_ja_valvont ... taismyynti

Lol "check the law before giving false information" we were just having a passing conversation, maybe I didn't make that clear enough in my original comment, checking the law before having a conversation sounds pretty amusing (or sad) either way, OP you've got some good info there all the best with your idea