Chances of Snus Discontinuation

[Grim]

I love Lucky Strike Portions.

Just ordered a roll from buysnus plus 1 can of Pall Mall Orig.

I was wondering, i know a lot of you guys like/love luckystrikes but alas its up to the swedish market to decide what stays and what goes.

How stable is the BAT snus brands and is Lucky Strike/Pall Mall able to become staple brands?

I read on their website that they generated 6% of the market share which sounds good.

I know im over stressing but thats why anxiety sucks!!!

[lxskllr]

A friend of mine who went to Norway last year said that Lucky Strike was popular there. I don't know how well the Norwegian club scene translates to the rest of the country, but there's that bit of info :shrugs:

[sagedil]

If you are not Swedish Match, you are battling over the remaining 10% market share. Under those circumstances, no snus is really safe. The other manufactures try every year to peel market share away from Swedish Match, they will always be trying new things and dropping things.

[ponysoprano]

yeah, I read about Rocker somewhere and got all stoked to try it, only to realize they were apparently bought in 2006? by Philip Morris Intl. and the product line was discontinued, or so I've heard...

[bigmacemd]

I got a few boxes of rocker when it was still going, I don't miss it

[ponysoprano]

I hear ya. I'd just read about their "hermetic sealing" of the containers, eliminating the need for refrigeration, and saw pix of primary-colored plastic containers that looked like toys I probably played with as a 3 year old. But then again, I don't tend to refrigerate my portion snus anyway, I keep new cans/rolls in an air and moisture tight container under the bed, they stay plenty cool that way. I just thought Rocker sounded cool in concept and execution, not necessarily in flavors or recipe.

[KarlvB]

Grim, personally I do not think that there is any chance of BAT ever discontinuing Lucky Strike, and I think the other brands are relatively safe too. Yes, there may be new flavours emerging or more white portions to meet market demand, but I think the next period will be one of increasing its presence and the visibility of its brands in the various markets it operates in.

My reasons for believing this?

BAT spent an awful lot of money to buy F&L (somewhere in the region of EUR3 billion for F&L and the other companies in the Scandinavian Tobacco Group) so I would take this is a clear sign from BAT that it will put significant muscle behind F&L and it's brands.

Also, it is my understanding that BAT sees Lucky Strike as a flagship brand so it would make sense to continue its push into the snus market by leading with a recognised brand. Clearly that will help the acceptance of snus in markets unfamiliar with the product.

For example, Lucky Strike and Peter Stuyvesant snus were the first two forms of snus to hit the South African market.

According to anecdotal reports from friends of mine who work for BAT Lucky Strike currently has the largest market share down there, but this may change in the future as SM increases its presence. From personal experience I know that BAT has no presence in Cape Town where the same strategy is being used as in the US - good availability of all General and CatchDry products in all tobacco shops.

I know some have made reference to the dominance of SM in the Swedish Market, but F&L is still producing something like 2 million cans of snus a month for the Swedish Market alone, which although only about 6% is still quite good.

In addition, as more countries start to crack down on smoking all tobacco companies who have acquired snus producers or shares in snus producers (BAT, PM. Imperial Tobacco) will be taking a serious look at how best to position their snus products for the new markets they have gained entry to over the last few years, such as the US and SA.

Moreover, despite the fact that F&L is only the second largest player in the Swedish market it is pushing hard to increase its visibility - when I was in Stockholm earlier this year I saw Granit, Retro, Mocca and Lucky Strike in every shop and there was a special running on Retro (SEK29)- so I bought a lot of the Original and it is now a regular order.

Finally, I think BAT/F&L may very well push to increase its presence in the mid (Retro) and low end (Granit) of the market as SM currently only has Kronan and Tre Ankare competing in that segment.

But then again I may be wrong about all of this....

[Harry]

Does the Pall Mall come in a metal tin?

[holnrew]

It would be nice if they introduced some los. It sounds like they're in it for the long term though and have foreseen the demise of cigarettes.