Paper or plastic?

[mikemck]

Just recieved the order I placed with Northerner, and all of the cans are paper, instead of plastic.
All are Swedish Match brands; General loose, Ettan loose, and Roda Lacket loose. I'm fairly sure these are also available in a plastic can, which I prefer.

My question is, does Northerner get supplied with paper cans only? I prefer plastic cans if possible, so I'm curious.

[TBonehawk]

As far as I know, the only SM loose brand that comes in plastic is Nick & Johnny. Portion comes in plastic (at least Kronan portion does). The loose doesn't keep as long in the cardboard tins, but that's life.

TBone

[chainsnuser]

Swedish Match loose snus usually comes in cardboard cans.

A few years ago, they have used plastic cans for some export markets in the E.U. (before the snus-ban). I don't know, if plastic cans are still available in other countries.

IMHO, there is nothing wrong with the cardboard cans. They are finely coated with wax inside, so the snus will not dry out faster, than with plastic cans.

[TBonehawk]

I only see two chief drawbacks to the wax-coated cans: 1) the snus dries out a bit quicker (quicker still with Kronan); 2) when you use the edge of the can to form your pris like I do, your fingernails scrape off shards of wax into your snus - not disgusting, but not tasty either.

[Zero]

We'll soon have the authoritative answer - I've just sent an email to Gothiatek asking why they use paper. Hopefully they'll have an interesting answer for us.

*******the question*********

Pursuant to discussions with fellow snus users at www.snuson.com, the question arose as to the reason for packing loose snus in paper boxes instead of plastic. Swedish Match/Gothiatek is the only company to adopt this practice and I was curious as to why? Is it for environmental or cost reasons, or is there some benefit to storing loose snus in waxed paper compared to plastic? Thanks in advance for any information you can share.

**************************

[mikemck]

Aha, I see. I prefer plastic, like the N&J cans, although I can't really say why. Maybe plastic seems more durable. Could also be because the Cope Snuff I used to use came in fiberboard cans and it did seem to dry out after a few days, so I guess Snus would as well.

Thanks for taking the time to send off a message to them Zero, hopefully we'll get some good info out of them.

[gopherbob]

My two favorite snusi are skruf stark and nick and johnny both come in plastic cans.

It may sound odd but the skruff stark can looks very good.. has a very modern/elegant/powerful look.

[Zero]

Here is the reply from Swedish Match :

****************************

Thank you for contacting us.

The traditional way of packing snus in Sweden is in paper boxes. That is how it was packed 100 years ago and that is how it's being packed today, so the answer is tradition.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions, by e-mail or telephone.

Best regards,

J.Michie
Consumer Relations
Swedish Match Division North Europe

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So there you have it, lads - paper boxes are keeping the oldschool vibe alive. 8)

[Craig de Tering]

Plus I think they'd have the advantage of Scandinavia having a huge wood&paper industry and (maybe) plastic prices being somewhat dependant on oil prices.
...And you have that environment/green angle covered too. (although not for the lids)

Reminds me also that a few years ago I visited a startup company around here (forgot the name) which makes plastics from potato waste. Pretty funky stuff. Durable, but only if treated well 'cause water breaks it down. They had a whole range of prototypes including the obvious CD case and golf tee assortment.

[vinnlandia]

I think it varies by company. All the loose snus from snusab uses plastic tubs.

This includes Roots and Skruf. (Which I might add are probably my favorites so far..) Diplomat and Kardus are also in plastic or metal tins.

[Craig de Tering]

Well, I gotta say... I just turned a lot more partial to plastic.
Last friday night I opened a can of Knox loose (made by Skruf) and this morning I realized it's still very much moist. That's something all other snuses in cardboard cans haven't been able to do! Those are usually noticeably drier in the fifth day even more so later on.
From now on I'm buying more plastic canned snus. Period.
Maybe just the odd cardboard canned one once in a while.

[vinnlandia]

My only comment on paper vs plastic FRESHNESS is that I like roda lackett and rape #2 A LOT, so I tend to use them up a lot faster than others in plastic, so I guess I wouldn't notice if they go stale.

I will say though that I have a tin of diplomat, and the metal tub it's in seems to impart a flavor after a while that's kinda like sticking a nine volt battery into your lip. In other words, doesn't hold its flavor well.

So far my favorite lossnus seems to be roda lackett, followed closely by skruf stark, followed not so closely by goteborg's rape #2. Two out of the three are cardboard.

Offtopic, my favorite portionsnus seems to be gottlandsnus green. Or skruf stark portion. it's a tie.