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America's Smoking Ban Pt. 3: The Rise of Snus
Rank: No. Of Views: 45 Posted On: March 4 th , 2008 12:31 PM Posted by: Dan-Brogan
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So far in my research into America's great smoking ban frenzy, I've discovered how the ban on public smoking has affected every State in the US, and I've investigated what impact the bans will have on America's smoke-economy. In this the third and final part of my report, I will be looking at an unlikely byproduct of the smoking ban and what it means for smokers and tobacco companies alike: the rise of a smoke-free tobacco-product called snus.
So what exactly is snus- well it's a dried tobacco mixture which either comes in loose powder form, or in small teabag-like packages, both of which are generally placed between the upper-lip and gum for long periods of time. Snus uses tobacco from a variety of places, and according to Wikipedia's description, is mixed with “water, salt, sodium carbonate and aroma” before being air-dried and prepared for sale. Until recently snus was popular across Scandinavia and nowhere else really. It is estimated that 1.1 million people in Sweden use snus, but as I discovered Americans, and more-tellingly, American corporations, are becoming very interested in snus as an alternative to cigarettes, with a market that is booming in the wake of the smoking ban.
When the dominant names in tobacco start investing heavily in a new sub-market it should not be discounted as insignificant- to insiders and speculators alike it reads quite clearly as a signal that that market is expected to grow. And that is what's happening right now with snus. Tobacco Goliaths British American Tobacco (BAT), made business headlines worldwide in February, when they struck a takeover deal worth ?2 billion to buy Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni, the Danish company which holds a 60 per cent share of tobacco sales in Scandinavia. According to UK broadsheet The Times' report on the story, Paul Adams, the chief executive of BAT, said: “We are buying market share [in snus], but more importantly we are buying expertise.” The article's author also pointed out that the deal would give BAT “a stronger position in snus.”
Phillip Morris, the giant behind brands including Marlboro, is also convinced of snus' potential market value. They recently announced a full launch of Marlboro snus, “designed especially for adult smokers in the US”, and they described the move as a “growth strategy”. The corporation has actually been test-marketing a snus product in America since last year, when they introduced Taboka snus in the Indianapolis area in 2007, where it still remains in test-market form. And Phillip Morris and BAT aren't the only big-players getting in on the new game: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, owners of the Camel cigarette brand have also moved into the snus market, and in many cases the companies are turning to a tested tobacco marketing formula, giving away free samples.
It's interesting how the tobacco companies are capitalizing on the public backlash following the wave of public smoking bans: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco have set up a website called My Smoker's Rights, which is a purely political-based resource for American smokers seeking information on smoker's rights. After going through the website's lengthy sign-up process it seems apparent that the Reynold's main premise behind the site seems to be collecting data about disenfranchised smokers and mobilizing them with the resources to help them fight back against the ban: pro-active political statements like “No one ever brought about change by sitting back and waiting for someone else to take action,” and “when legislation is being considered that would negatively impact smokers' rights, you have tools you can use to fight back,” sit alongside information on how much each State taxes smokers, and how to contact your local government about the matter. The site also promises access to what sounds like a social networking-style feature for smokers, but I didn't wait the 7 days it can take to be approved for this feature. The same company's new Camel snus product is being marketed with the “cool” of an alcoholic beverage- and Marlboro snus is expected to come in varieties including Rich, Mild, Spice and Mint- clearly signalling the marketability of snus comapred to cigarettes. And in case you're wondering whether Reynold's snus campaign and their Smokers' Rights campaign are linked- I actually found their political site through a direct link on Camelsnus.com.
So what about the health impact of snus compared to smoked tobacco? Well this is another area with extremely blurry lines. A popular phrase being used in reference to snus is “Harm Reduction”: as the Action on Smoking & Health website hesitantly put it, snus “appears to be much safer to use than cigarettes.” David O'Reilly, head of harm reduction science at BAT was much more confident: “The science is all done. There's very good evidence that the product is somewhere between 90 and 98 per cent safer than a cigarette.” But that doesn't stop new snus products like Camel snus being forced to feature a mandatory: “This product may cause mouth cancer” warning on their advertising media. A European Union investigation into the effects of snus was less certain, and they refused to lift the ban on snus which exists throughout all of the EU except Scandinavia: they described snus as being “addictive and hazardous to health”, and noted that “all smokeless tobacco products contain carcinogens [cancer-causing chemicals] and may cause cancer of the pancreas and mouth.” It was a blow for tobacco companies who had lobbied the European Parliament for a lift of the ban.
It looks like snus is, and will remain, a hot-topic in North America, and one that is intrinsically linked to the public smoking bans that have spread like wildfire across the States in recent years. Tobacco companies are investing their hopes in it, and providing the means and the reason for smokers to do the same; despite the uncertainty surrounding its safety. But the facts are that sales of snus are on the up. Swedish Match, a European company who are “leading niche tobacco products”, wrote in their monthly trade magazine that “despite the weaker dollar and extremely tough competition in the North American market, we managed to increase both sales and earnings for snus”. The real big names of tobacco- the Phillip Morisses, and the British American Tobaccos of the world- for the most-part have been around for over a hundred years, and given all that they've faced in the past, they aren't going to let themselves be “disappeared” by the advent of a smoking ban. For them it's just something else that needs a work-around: a blocked-path that needs to be overcome. And snus might just be the explosive that will do the trick. Rate Article
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Mr_Unloadingzone
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Current Comment Rank Posted On: March 4 th , 2008 2:18 PM Reply
Very interesting article! I would like to correct/clarify a few points, however. The snus products available in the United States today marketed under the Marlboro and Camel brand names are very different than Swedish snus (available in limited locations in the United States or by mail-order). While Marlboro and Camels entries are new products for both, Swedish snus has been in existance for hundreds of years. There are a wide variety of producers, products, and recipes available. Unlike American snus products, Swedish snus is regulated as a food product by their version of the FDA. This means tighter quality and manufacturing controls and meeting food guidelines. Swedish snus is not dry. It is made from ground tobacco powder, table salt, seasonings, and humectins. It is sold refrigerated and has an expiration date on it. And, in the various forms it is available, it is moist. The BIGGEST difference by far is that Swedish snus is steam pasteurized to kill all the micro-organisms found in tobacco and most of the carcinogen's. The only real carcinogen left is nicotine making Swedish snus less dangerous than a nicotine patch or nicotine gum, both of which contain up to 4 times the amount of nicotine as Swedish snus. That's why, in a long-term study, Swedish men were found to be the LARGEST group of snus users in Europe by far, but conversely had the LOWEST rates of oral and lung cancer. This is causing a great deal of consternation among anti-ANY tobacco groups. They have hired their own doctors in an effort to debunk the European long-term studies, but they were unable to. The worst these doctors could say is that "long term" (a term they left undefined...20 years? 40 years? They didn't say) use of Swedish snus (because it contains nicotine) could increase the risk of Pancreatic Cancer.
America's Smoking Ban Pt. 3: The Rise of Snus
Rank: No. Of Views: 45 Posted On: March 4 th , 2008 12:31 PM Posted by: Dan-Brogan
Part of news story: none No. Of Users Comments: 2
Part of news channel: none Send a message to Author
So far in my research into America's great smoking ban frenzy, I've discovered how the ban on public smoking has affected every State in the US, and I've investigated what impact the bans will have on America's smoke-economy. In this the third and final part of my report, I will be looking at an unlikely byproduct of the smoking ban and what it means for smokers and tobacco companies alike: the rise of a smoke-free tobacco-product called snus.
So what exactly is snus- well it's a dried tobacco mixture which either comes in loose powder form, or in small teabag-like packages, both of which are generally placed between the upper-lip and gum for long periods of time. Snus uses tobacco from a variety of places, and according to Wikipedia's description, is mixed with “water, salt, sodium carbonate and aroma” before being air-dried and prepared for sale. Until recently snus was popular across Scandinavia and nowhere else really. It is estimated that 1.1 million people in Sweden use snus, but as I discovered Americans, and more-tellingly, American corporations, are becoming very interested in snus as an alternative to cigarettes, with a market that is booming in the wake of the smoking ban.
When the dominant names in tobacco start investing heavily in a new sub-market it should not be discounted as insignificant- to insiders and speculators alike it reads quite clearly as a signal that that market is expected to grow. And that is what's happening right now with snus. Tobacco Goliaths British American Tobacco (BAT), made business headlines worldwide in February, when they struck a takeover deal worth ?2 billion to buy Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni, the Danish company which holds a 60 per cent share of tobacco sales in Scandinavia. According to UK broadsheet The Times' report on the story, Paul Adams, the chief executive of BAT, said: “We are buying market share [in snus], but more importantly we are buying expertise.” The article's author also pointed out that the deal would give BAT “a stronger position in snus.”
Phillip Morris, the giant behind brands including Marlboro, is also convinced of snus' potential market value. They recently announced a full launch of Marlboro snus, “designed especially for adult smokers in the US”, and they described the move as a “growth strategy”. The corporation has actually been test-marketing a snus product in America since last year, when they introduced Taboka snus in the Indianapolis area in 2007, where it still remains in test-market form. And Phillip Morris and BAT aren't the only big-players getting in on the new game: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, owners of the Camel cigarette brand have also moved into the snus market, and in many cases the companies are turning to a tested tobacco marketing formula, giving away free samples.
It's interesting how the tobacco companies are capitalizing on the public backlash following the wave of public smoking bans: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco have set up a website called My Smoker's Rights, which is a purely political-based resource for American smokers seeking information on smoker's rights. After going through the website's lengthy sign-up process it seems apparent that the Reynold's main premise behind the site seems to be collecting data about disenfranchised smokers and mobilizing them with the resources to help them fight back against the ban: pro-active political statements like “No one ever brought about change by sitting back and waiting for someone else to take action,” and “when legislation is being considered that would negatively impact smokers' rights, you have tools you can use to fight back,” sit alongside information on how much each State taxes smokers, and how to contact your local government about the matter. The site also promises access to what sounds like a social networking-style feature for smokers, but I didn't wait the 7 days it can take to be approved for this feature. The same company's new Camel snus product is being marketed with the “cool” of an alcoholic beverage- and Marlboro snus is expected to come in varieties including Rich, Mild, Spice and Mint- clearly signalling the marketability of snus comapred to cigarettes. And in case you're wondering whether Reynold's snus campaign and their Smokers' Rights campaign are linked- I actually found their political site through a direct link on Camelsnus.com.
So what about the health impact of snus compared to smoked tobacco? Well this is another area with extremely blurry lines. A popular phrase being used in reference to snus is “Harm Reduction”: as the Action on Smoking & Health website hesitantly put it, snus “appears to be much safer to use than cigarettes.” David O'Reilly, head of harm reduction science at BAT was much more confident: “The science is all done. There's very good evidence that the product is somewhere between 90 and 98 per cent safer than a cigarette.” But that doesn't stop new snus products like Camel snus being forced to feature a mandatory: “This product may cause mouth cancer” warning on their advertising media. A European Union investigation into the effects of snus was less certain, and they refused to lift the ban on snus which exists throughout all of the EU except Scandinavia: they described snus as being “addictive and hazardous to health”, and noted that “all smokeless tobacco products contain carcinogens [cancer-causing chemicals] and may cause cancer of the pancreas and mouth.” It was a blow for tobacco companies who had lobbied the European Parliament for a lift of the ban.
It looks like snus is, and will remain, a hot-topic in North America, and one that is intrinsically linked to the public smoking bans that have spread like wildfire across the States in recent years. Tobacco companies are investing their hopes in it, and providing the means and the reason for smokers to do the same; despite the uncertainty surrounding its safety. But the facts are that sales of snus are on the up. Swedish Match, a European company who are “leading niche tobacco products”, wrote in their monthly trade magazine that “despite the weaker dollar and extremely tough competition in the North American market, we managed to increase both sales and earnings for snus”. The real big names of tobacco- the Phillip Morisses, and the British American Tobaccos of the world- for the most-part have been around for over a hundred years, and given all that they've faced in the past, they aren't going to let themselves be “disappeared” by the advent of a smoking ban. For them it's just something else that needs a work-around: a blocked-path that needs to be overcome. And snus might just be the explosive that will do the trick. Rate Article
Report Copyright Violation
Report Inappropriate Content
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Associate to Existing News Story
Discuss this new article New Comment
Mr_Unloadingzone
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Current Comment Rank Posted On: March 4 th , 2008 2:18 PM Reply
Very interesting article! I would like to correct/clarify a few points, however. The snus products available in the United States today marketed under the Marlboro and Camel brand names are very different than Swedish snus (available in limited locations in the United States or by mail-order). While Marlboro and Camels entries are new products for both, Swedish snus has been in existance for hundreds of years. There are a wide variety of producers, products, and recipes available. Unlike American snus products, Swedish snus is regulated as a food product by their version of the FDA. This means tighter quality and manufacturing controls and meeting food guidelines. Swedish snus is not dry. It is made from ground tobacco powder, table salt, seasonings, and humectins. It is sold refrigerated and has an expiration date on it. And, in the various forms it is available, it is moist. The BIGGEST difference by far is that Swedish snus is steam pasteurized to kill all the micro-organisms found in tobacco and most of the carcinogen's. The only real carcinogen left is nicotine making Swedish snus less dangerous than a nicotine patch or nicotine gum, both of which contain up to 4 times the amount of nicotine as Swedish snus. That's why, in a long-term study, Swedish men were found to be the LARGEST group of snus users in Europe by far, but conversely had the LOWEST rates of oral and lung cancer. This is causing a great deal of consternation among anti-ANY tobacco groups. They have hired their own doctors in an effort to debunk the European long-term studies, but they were unable to. The worst these doctors could say is that "long term" (a term they left undefined...20 years? 40 years? They didn't say) use of Swedish snus (because it contains nicotine) could increase the risk of Pancreatic Cancer.
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