Snus - more popular than we think?

[Zero]

UPS just delivered my snus today and the guy said - "ah, swedish tobacco - you're the second guy I've delivered this stuff to today! What is it?"

So I proceeded to give the guy the 30-second run-down and he was totally interested. The brits are losing their minds with the new smoking ban and he seemed excited about the idea of something he could have in the pub. Second delivery before 9am, though...that's gotta say something.

[mwood72]

Re: Snus - more popular than we think?

UPS just delivered my snus today and the guy said - "ah, swedish tobacco - you're the second guy I've delivered this stuff to today! What is it?"

So I proceeded to give the guy the 30-second run-down and he was totally interested. The brits are losing their minds with the new smoking ban and he seemed excited about the idea of something he could have in the pub. Second delivery before 9am, though...that's gotta say something.

I think Snus would be very popular if it were introduced in the UK now that the smoking ban is in place. Probably very little chance of it happening though. Still I can dream of seeing a Snus fridge in my corner shop

Good old UPS hey. Costs a bit more but puts Airmail to shame.

[Zero]

depends on the size of the order...for mine (two rolls and my free Ettan hat) it was something like €22 airmail and €24 UPS.

[phish]

I think It goes well with this healthy-carbon neutral-organic-free range-low fat-environmentally friendly thing that's going on at the moment. Of course the smoking ban will help but I agree with mwood that we probably won't get it here

[lovesnus]

i think i wouldnt want snus to become popular here in US i think prices on it would go up almost immediately in that case. people here in New york pay 5-6 $ for TSNA-loaded fermented garbage called dip and i pay about 30$ a roll(delivery included) i believe popularity will make snus more expensive. let it be the way it is

[Raymond]

Got to agree with lovesnus. It's popular with those of us who like it, but the ability to get it at the corner store would just drive the prices up like everything else. (Sorry - a bad day, but nothing that a nice pris of Gustavus won't cure :lol: )

[Subtilo]

The snus use in Denmark is increasing a lot these days with the upcoming smoke ban. Even the dull press is smelling the coffee - though most of the recent articles just quotes the same fella from 7-Eleven who's deeply impressed with the rising popularity and such. A few papers did refer to the recent scientific report which was overall positive. It's also noticeable how many kiosks and smaller stores now offers snus, although it's mostly just General and mostly just kept in the bottom of the soda fridge and mostly just in Copenhagen (as far as I know). Due to the friggin' EU there's no portions to be found anywhere except for the increasing number of used ones on the sidewalks - which means that people get them anyway, I guess either from Malmö, Swedish friends or colleagues or the webs. Tiny but positive signs of the coming tobacco revolution. :wink:

Oh, by the way! I wanted to share this weird snus experience with you! Ha! Last week I was at the Roskilde Festival (huge music festival, look it up). It was raining solid and everything was ankle or knee deep in mud. Crazy shit, I can't tell you how much I appreciated my snus. I'm not even sure I would've survived getting up and out of my sloppy tent in the mornings without it! Anyways, at some point during one of the nights this Swedish fella staggered up to me and started rambling about some concert which he "didn't understand". We started to talk and soon - I dunno how - the conversation turned to the noble subject of snus. I remember me praising the Swedes for their brilliancy and trying to explain just a tiny bit of the joy I've received from snus during time, and apparently I did it so well that he blushed and almost didn't know what to say ... until he suddenly smiled and grabbed a can of General portions from his pocket and asked me "vill du ha snus?". I gladly accepted and thanked him, and then he asked me which kind I (sn)used. I pulled up my can of N & J portions (now, THIS is a knife) and flipped it to him. He looked at it and to my big surprise he claimed that he'd never seen this brand before. I explained briefly and told him about the +40% factor to which he reacted even more surprisingly ... by simply looking at me in clean confusion and then seconds later in pure anger. He flipped the can back to me yelling: "40% extra? who ... who needs that much?!?! ... it's insane!". Then he disappeared head shaking in the crowds. All I could do was laugh. Of course a large scale use like Sweden's must give birth to segments of extremely conservative snusers.

Sorry for the longie. Just couldn't find a more suitable forum for an anecdote like this.

[BlackDog]

I don't really want it to catch on here (US).......prices shoot up, it gets commercialized, big tobacco cuts corners on production, gets a facelift with a bunch of shitty flavors they think Americans like.
I live near Austin, they were selling the Camel Snus tins for around 5 bucks (keep in mind these were mini portions or close to it, the tin just had 20 instead of the standard 24 portions if I remember correctly). I knew better because of my Swedish friend who educated me early on.
If this is a sign of things to come, no thanks. I will keep doing my part to support the Swedish economy.....

[Coffey]

I agree with Blackdog, the sooner it catches on in America, the sooner we will see flavors like sour apple and watermelon invading our snus. Also, I am happy to pay $30-40 for a roll, and as soon as it becomes popular, we will see prices soar to $50-60 per roll. Lets just keep it our little secret .

[mwood72]

Oh, by the way! I wanted to share this weird snus experience with you! Ha! Last week I was at the Roskilde Festival (huge music festival, look it up). It was raining solid and everything was ankle or knee deep in mud. Crazy shit, I can't tell you how much I appreciated my snus. I'm not even sure I would've survived getting up and out of my sloppy tent in the mornings without it! Anyways, at some point during one of the nights this Swedish fella staggered up to me and started rambling about some concert which he "didn't understand". We started to talk and soon - I dunno how - the conversation turned to the noble subject of snus. I remember me praising the Swedes for their brilliancy and trying to explain just a tiny bit of the joy I've received from snus during time, and apparently I did it so well that he blushed and almost didn't know what to say ... until he suddenly smiled and grabbed a can of General portions from his pocket and asked me "vill du ha snus?". I gladly accepted and thanked him, and then he asked me which kind I (sn)used. I pulled up my can of N & J portions (now, THIS is a knife) and flipped it to him. He looked at it and to my big surprise he claimed that he'd never seen this brand before. I explained briefly and told him about the +40% factor to which he reacted even more surprisingly ... by simply looking at me in clean confusion and then seconds later in pure anger. He flipped the can back to me yelling: "40% extra? who ... who needs that much?!?! ... it's insane!". Then he disappeared head shaking in the crowds. All I could do was laugh. Of course a large scale use like Sweden's must give birth to segments of extremely conservative snusers.

Sorry for the longie. Just couldn't find a more suitable forum for an anecdote like this.

Subtilo - I take it strong Snus is not very popular in Scandinavia? I guess they wouldn't be very impressed by someone with a maxi porttion under their lip

[phish]

If snus did get popular, Sweden should invoke 'protected designation of origin' so the finish product can only be called snus if it is produced in Scandinavia and follows a set of standards (like champagne, port or stilton cheese). Although I don't know if the US adheres to this law.

[Subtilo]

Oh, by the way! I wanted to share this weird snus experience with you! Ha! Last week I was at the Roskilde Festival (huge music festival, look it up). It was raining solid and everything was ankle or knee deep in mud. Crazy shit, I can't tell you how much I appreciated my snus. I'm not even sure I would've survived getting up and out of my sloppy tent in the mornings without it! Anyways, at some point during one of the nights this Swedish fella staggered up to me and started rambling about some concert which he "didn't understand". We started to talk and soon - I dunno how - the conversation turned to the noble subject of snus. I remember me praising the Swedes for their brilliancy and trying to explain just a tiny bit of the joy I've received from snus during time, and apparently I did it so well that he blushed and almost didn't know what to say ... until he suddenly smiled and grabbed a can of General portions from his pocket and asked me "vill du ha snus?". I gladly accepted and thanked him, and then he asked me which kind I (sn)used. I pulled up my can of N & J portions (now, THIS is a knife) and flipped it to him. He looked at it and to my big surprise he claimed that he'd never seen this brand before. I explained briefly and told him about the +40% factor to which he reacted even more surprisingly ... by simply looking at me in clean confusion and then seconds later in pure anger. He flipped the can back to me yelling: "40% extra? who ... who needs that much?!?! ... it's insane!". Then he disappeared head shaking in the crowds. All I could do was laugh. Of course a large scale use like Sweden's must give birth to segments of extremely conservative snusers.

Sorry for the longie. Just couldn't find a more suitable forum for an anecdote like this.

Subtilo - I take it strong Snus is not very popular in Scandinavia? I guess they wouldn't be very impressed by someone with a maxi porttion under their lip

I dunno ... I honestly can't think of any plausible reasons why strong snus shouldn't be popular in Scandinavia. It would make a lot more sense the other way around ... due to many peoples life long use of snus one should think that they/we had built up enough physical resistance to really appreciate the stronger variants. Hey, maybe the guys reaction was more based on the ol' love/hate relationship between the Swedes and the Danes. Maybe he just couldn't stand the thought of a Dane doing harder snus than him :lol:

[theoldsearock]

Re: Snus - more popular than we think?

UPS just delivered my snus today and the guy said - "ah, swedish tobacco - you're the second guy I've delivered this stuff to today! What is it?"

I'm attending school (away from home) and several of the group have seen me baking a pris; two individuals who use Copenhagen have come up and asked me what I was doing. After an explanation, both were interested in buying tins to try.

Once General gets more retail stores on board, I believe snus will become popular in the USA.

Being a newb, I've come to appreciate the snus. Wonderful flavor that lasts - and after the initial gum irritation (I only use loose) subsided, I'm definitely not looking back.

The only downside is that last pris of the evening. Instead of baking a nice pris, I'll do a small commando and place this in my bottom lip. The flavor hits quicker and instead of having a 2 hour prilla, I'll enjoy the small commando "dip" for a short period of time and then retire to bed satisfied.

Brilliant. I want to try Ettan and N&J next. General Loose is very good, I must confess. From 4 to 5 cans of Copenhagen a week to one can of loose.... WOW

I do believe that snus is more popular than the number of members to this forum shows. Growth will be exponential in the US.

[theoldsearock]

If snus did get popular, Sweden should invoke 'protected designation of origin' so the finish product can only be called snus if it is produced in Scandinavia and follows a set of standards (like champagne, port or stilton cheese). Although I don't know if the US adheres to this law.

Phish, I can say with some certainty that Marlboro and Camel will call their product whatever they want...

I can also say with absolute certainty that I'm not interested in even a trial of the US product; there is no telling how much jacked up nicotine and trendy chemical amusement aid may end up in a Marlboro or Camel product.

During this school (TCU) I visited a good friends cigar shop and preached snus. My friend as as well as the others who have asked me questions have marveled at the purity of this Swedish product. Kudos to our Swedish friends and the Swedish government for making this product to such high and exacting standards. HUGE selling point - no crap in the tobacco.

[Raymond]

...no crap in the tobacco. Theoldsearock, I gotta agree. This is good stuff.

Just before I 'discovered' Swedish snus I got a sleeve of Cope. It is in the freezer in the basement, where it will probably stay unopened. What a waste of money. Oh well.

Not sorry, though. Having a good time trying the different types of snus available. So far, my favorites are Skruf, Gustavus, and Diplomat.

But to stay on point, I wouldn't want this to become 'popular' in the US. Who knows what will be added to snus if the US tobacco companies got hold of it, not to mention the price going up. Why ruin a good thing?