The Future of Nicotine Delivery: Innovations in the Snus and Nicotine Pouch Category
I’ve been using snus since 2009, and over the year in this industry I’ve seen a lot of interesting changes and developments. When I first started snus, it was a relatively simple industry. You had original portion, white portion and lossnus. The nicotine strengths were relatively simple – regular strength, strong, and extra strong. But now, the industry has grown and changed in a lot of ways. In many ways, it has made things more approachable for folks new to products like these. Today, we’re going to look at a lot of the interesting new developments that have came about over the past several years! Many of these have been exciting and necessary innovations. Some, however, have had people asking why it was necessary. Well, no matter where you fall, you may find some of these innovations interesting!
Some of these innovations have to do with how we consume and use snus. Some of these innovations are still around, but not all of them. But it is interesting to see companies take a great product and continue to grow and improve on it. I’ve seen a lot of them in my years of writing about snus, and I can only imagine how many more we’ll see in the coming years. There are many out there, but I’m going to mainly focus in on the ones I enjoy myself!
So, let’s look at the exciting world of snus, nicotine pouches, and alternatives, as well as a lot of the new innovations that have came about the past decade!
Innovation: The Long / Slim Portion (2009)
Perhaps one of the biggest innovations in the Swedish Snus industry was that of the long / slim portion that launched in 2009 with Swedish Match’s Lab Series. Where this originated may be up for debate, however. Some may say Camel Snus sold in the US prior to the Lab Series had slim portions. However, but on the Swedish Snus market, the Lab Series brought long/slim portions to the international audience. Nowadays, many snus products come in the slim format. Also, most nicotine pouches come in this format. Prior to the slim portion, 99% of snus came in the regular / large size. Slim portions are more discrete and comfortable in the lip, so they’re much more appealing to new consumers. This was definitely a groundbreaking innovation!
Innovation: Chew Bags (2014)
Due to the EU snus ban, many countries outside of Sweden in the EU were unable to get access to Swedish Snus. A relatively young company in Denmark known as V2 Tobacco was aware of this, and created a new product category that would change the game: chew bags! This was a product very similar to snus, but different. The tobacco itself was pasteurized, much like Swedish Snus. However, the tobacco was cut, instead of ground. And, the portion material was a little thicker, so these portions could technically be chewed to release more flavor. Over the following years, more and more companies would get in on this. At one point, almost every manufacturer of snus had a chew bag product on the market. However, when nicotine pouches came about and became popular, companies began making those instead of chew bags. Nowadays, you don’t see many chew bags on the market anymore. Companies have, instead, pursued nicotine pouches for the EU market. I think chew bags are a much better product, but unfortunately it doesn’t appear as though the chew bag market will continue to grow. It’s shrinking year by year, and that will probably continue to be the case, unfortunately. Many tobacco enthusiasts in the EU really enjoy chew bags and are hoping for a revival of this product category. As a snus lover, I join them in this dream, and hope that chew bags will eventually become as popular and widely produced as they once were!
Innovation: Forbakad (Pre-Baked Loose Snus) (2014)
Another innovation from the F&L folks came in 2014 in the form of pre-baked loose snus. While this type of product is no longer made, it’s an innovation that I found to be quite revolutionary. I felt like it deserved a mention. This product was an interesting one. While loose snus usually involves a process of pinching, or baking, this one took all of that out of the equation. These pre-baked prillas of loose snus were easy to grab and go! I was surprised this innovation never took off. I really enjoyed it. I imagine loose snus fans may not have been fully behind it, which makes sense. I was surprised to see how quickly this product format fizzled out. I had higher hopes for it. Loose snus on the go, I mean, what is better than that? But sadly, as quick as it came about, it vanished from the market. Who knows, maybe it will return again someday! Fingers crossed.
Innovation: The Perforated Portion (2014)
And, another innovation by Fiedler & Lundgren! In 2014, when they launched the pre-baked loose prilla, they also introduced a type of portion that was completely unique – the perforated white portion! This new portion format had little holes in it which allowed for a quicker release of flavor. As with a white portion, you got a long lasting flavor. However, with the little holes in the pouch, you got a quicker release of flavor than with most regular portions! To me, I enjoy them, but I can’t use them all the time because they can kinda bother my gums. But, when I do use them, I find them to deliver a unique experience. This product format proved to be pretty popular, because these are still produced today and make up most of the Lundgren’s Snus portions!
Innovation: The Lundgren’s Flexlid (2015)
In 2015, the folks at Fiedler & Lundgren’s introduced something new, the FlexLid, also known as the FlexLock. Though, to be honest, I just call it the FlexLid. You’ll see this in some of their snus products, as well as some of their nicotine pouch products such as Lyft and Velo. What is this? Well, this is a part of the catch lid. While most are a hard compartment, these are a more rubbery type of material. This material will actually grow and expand as you add more pouches to the can! If you’re someone like me who uses the catch lid a lot for used pouches, this is away that you can stay out all day and fill up your compartment! Or, if you want, you could technically put another type of snus in the top compartment on your can and carry around another variety of snus or nicotine pouches with you! It’s a pretty neat little innovation! This is something I really enjoy about their products. To some, it may not seem that exciting, but to me it’s something I really find to be quite fascinating. And, useful!
Innovation: Recyclable / Renewable Cans
When I first started using snus in 2009, there wasn’t much of a focus on renewable or recyclable cans and things of that nature. However, over the past few years you may have noticed more and more companies touting their renewable / recyclable cans. Many companies are doing this now, but I have to give credit to Another Snus Factory and their PlantCan. This primarily came about in their Loop Nicotine Pouches lineup.
This is how they describe it: “All products are sold in our unique PlantCan™. It has a great feel, a perfect size. It keeps the product safe and also happens to be the first environmentally friendly snus can in the world. It’s made out of 100% plant based plastic created with pine-tree oil extracted from waste material of the forest industry.”
I know, not everyone may care to much about this. But, for those who do, this has been an exciting innovation to see in the snus and nicotine pouch industry. It’s been truly exciting to see.
The Bottom Line
It has truly been interesting to see the developments that have come about in the snus industry. From the way we put the snus into our lip, to how the snus is stored in cans, to the types of cans our products come in. Some innovations, like the PlantCan, have an impact on the world around us by giving us recyclability with our cans. It will be interesting to see what types of innovations we see in the snus industry in the coming years. Also, with the nicotine pouch segment. As the all white segment grows and is still in its early years, it will be interesting to see what comes about in this growing and revolutionary new product category. I’ve enjoyed seeing all these new innovations since I started writing about products like this, so I find myself curious to see what the next stage of innovation will be. So, stay tuned and we will see what it to come in the coming years!
