Snus perception in Scandinavia

[Multinic]

I guess the problem is that if you live in an environment where a lot of people use snus, most people are too lazy to try out different brands and just observe what others use and try the 2 or 3 most popular ones, which all happen to be made by Swedish Match (I would guess that the most popular ones are General, Ettan, and Grov, correct me if I'm wrong). We shouldn't be too critical of this though, since I suspect most of us were similar to the Scandinavian snus consumer when we smoked. I remember that I only tried two or three of the major brands and then stuck with one of them. Later, I would try some more unusual brands, but somehow you get used to a certain flavor, just like I assume General users get used to the General flavor, even if they would have been equally likely to develop a preference for some other brand, had they faced a level playing field.

By the way, what's so great about American Spirits (mentioned a lot on this site)? I have never tried them, but frankly most cigarettes are actually quite similar apart from the strength and whether they are regular or menthol.

[lxskllr]

By the way, what's so great about American Spirits (mentioned a lot on this site)? I have never tried them, but frankly most cigarettes are actually quite similar apart from the strength and whether they are regular or menthol.

I smoked the RYO version, but the prepackaged version had these traits going for it...

All natural, and also available in organic

They're heavy, and stuffed extra full

They go out on their own if you don't keep hitting on them.(no burn accelerators in the papers). Useful if you work with your hands.

[snugrass]

i was smoking american spirits exclusivley before I quit with the cigs. i think they are a good quality smoke.

The only Snus I see in stores around central PA are Grand Pris and Klondike. I wonder what type of user these are targeting. With the packaging, maybe racing fans and country folk. I saw Grand Pris at the tobacco store for $1.75/can.

The word is just not out around here about Snus. really no one has much of a clue about them. There are many people using cope and Skoal in these parts and snus will be a tough sell to them. With the recent smoking ban in the bars around here, I can see that crowd maybe being converted....but seriuosly, this crowd will go after the classy packaging, which will help convince them it is higher quality stuff.

[aj01]

snus in scandinavia

Snus you do not find in shops:

V2
Odens
Gotlands (except Julsnus if you're lucky)

Both markets, as mentioned before, are General, Ettan, Grov, Goteborgs Rape. Skruf is no. 2 in Norway (in company share).

After Swedish Match, there's not much room to play.

[Nicobuzz]

Re: Snus perception in Scandinavia

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been discussed before - I couldn't find anything.

I'm wondering how snus is seen is Sweden/Norway. Over here (and I assume everywhere else) different brands of cigarettes are seen very differently. Roll-ups are associated with certain types of people, B&H are for builders, Marlboro Lights for students and women, Royals for scallies and so on. Is there something similar with snus? Is los seen as more 'manly'? Are certain brands associated with certain classes or types of people?

Before I answer...what is a scallie?? LMAO

Are you from Scotland Jim?
Scallie is short for Scalliwag but the shortened 'scallie' is more often used in Scotland and the North of Ireland.

It's an interesting question Jim and I hope someone from Sweden might be able to answer as I know exactly what you're getting at. I used to smoke Silk Cut Silver which were called 'girlie' fags (P.S. note to Americans - in the British Isles we call cigarettes 'fags' which has no affiliation whatsoever to homosexuality :

A "fag end" is from the Middle English "fagge" meaning the frayed end of a length of cloth or rope or an inferior or worn-out remnant. Weavers used it to refer to a broken thread in cloth that hangs loose. It has also come to mean the last part of something.

It s use to mean a cigarette is a 20th Century slang invention from the "fag end" already in use to mean the used stub. It was transferred in American slang to indicate that a male homosexual was an inferior tatter and of no use to society. Its alternative form "faggot" is a corruption of this and not a use of the same word derived differently.)

[Lucky Striker]

Stepping away from the faggotry for a second...

My father is Swedish and still makes the trip every couple of years. He does not snus but everyone in his family does, at least the ones that still live there. According to him, most people use Ettan or General lös during the week because snus is so expensive, you get almost twice as much in a lös can than you do in portions. On the weekends (during payday) people buy expensive portions like Onyx or Montecristo to kind of show off when they're around their friends or at the clubs. (Kind of like how in the US a lot of us drink something like Bud during the week but on the weekends we get Corona).

Gotlandssnus is very much in demand in most parts of Sweden. Everyone speaks of it as a semi-legendary brand. As someone else pointed out, sometimes the Christmas time snus is found around the holidays, but stuff like the Flader is very hard to come by.

My family very much wanted to try the Camel snus (US) when I first told them about it, and surprisingly they all loved the Original and the Spice. My Uncle was very disappointed when they switched to the Mellow, as I had been sending him monthly supplies of the other two for about a year. According to them, everybody in Sweden that tried it loved our US Camel snus. Go figure.

As far as masculinity and femininity in brands, Minis are for younger girls and White Portions are mostly used by the young (both sexes). Older snusers still prefer lös and regular portions for the most part.

Aside from what I listed above, my uncles use General Maxi portions and Extra Sterk lös, and my Cousins use Skruf sometimes. Since the taxes have increased they have also been using a lot of LD, Level, Granit and Gustavus because these are all cheaper than most of the Swedish Match brands. I hear Kronan is also getting more and more popular too.

There is also some very, very cheap snus that is sold in some black markets that is made in Asia. I don't know what it is exactly, but really cheap people use it when they can find it. It is very strong and not refrigerated, so I think it may not be pasteurized (which is why it wouldn't be legal to sell in Sweden). I saw a can a few years back and it had a Viking on the lid. It looked sort of like a can of Copenhagen, metal lid and cardboard wax can. It is sold mainly in outdoor markets that are similar to what we call flea markets in the US.

This is my intro post. I'm new here, but I wanted to share what I knew about some of the Swedish snus that may not be common knowledge among most Americans.

[lxskllr]

Welcome to Snuson Lucky!!

Very insightful post. Interesting information :^)

[Lucky Striker]

Thank you for your welcome! I dig your avatar, too.

[jim]

Extremely informative! Thanks a lot for that. Perhaps you could be persuaded to write a book on Swedish snus culture? ;-)

[Stargazer]

a lot of my friends used to snus, but now have only one left.
both of us keep to skruf portions for ease of use.
Since I haven't bought a can of snus in Norway in 6 months,
I buy large quantities during trips to Sweden. usually 20 cans of
skruf at a time. I don't take as a big price hit as I would have if I had bought in Norway, you save about 20-30kr a can.
as to other people, general is the big brand,
both in portion and løs. Ettan and grov has a small loyal following
and skruf is gaining in, specially in the young marked.
snus is not a try and taste thing here, you find your brand and stick
with it, flavoring is frowned upon, specially sweet flavoring.

[Lucky Striker]

Extremely informative! Thanks a lot for that. Perhaps you could be persuaded to write a book on Swedish snus culture? ;-)

Ha, I'll know more when I go over there later this summer. I started taking snus a couple of years back when I was trying out snuff. I remembered that my uncles and cousins all used a lot of (what I thought was) dip, and that's when my dad schooled me about snus. I started emailing my family over there for all the info I could get. Believe it or not, I found out my Uncle once worked for Swedish Match waaaay back when, so that was pretty cool.

[Svarthvitt]

Catch and mocca for the people with rich fathers.

Catch and Mocca?? :P I'd be rolling around with Kardus everyday if it were me... :wink:

It's like, they use it because it tastes good, mint and such :P
Use snus because its "cool" you know
Kardus is tobacco flavored I guess, so they would stay away from that most of the time. =P

[Knoxboxen]

As far as i know here in Norway, brands like catch and mocca is for girls and "metrosexuals". (Generally small portions with a flavor of mint, honey, Liquorice etc)

Portion snus with just the tobacco flavor and loose snus is used by everyone else. But some loose snusers consider all portion snus for "girl snus".

But no one actually cares, people are not going to think you're a wimp just because you like Catch :P .