Gotlandssnus – A Swedish Success Story

Gotlandssnus’ story is unlike most other stories in the snus world. While the stories of historical brands often date back to explorations and 19th century tobacco factories, Gotlandssnus’ story reads more like that of a technology startup:

In 2002, founder Henrik Jakobsson made the decision to produce snus from his kitchen table—with nothing but a vision of the snus he wanted to make. In typical startup fashion, he started small, growing the company one step at a time, waiting for it to take off. Several years of hard work and continuous improvement later, their customer base had grown large enough to warrant a Gotlandssnus facility—which was built on the island of Gotland, the manufacturer’s namesake. Since then, Gotlandssnus has become a beloved manufacturer, known for intense, tasty flavors and high-quality snus.

First Class Snus—Worldwide

11 years after Gotlandssnus Henrik Jakobsson started Gotlandssnus, he received The Gazelle, a prize awarded to fast-growing companies in Sweden by the business magazine Dagens Industri.

But Jakobsson didn’t only win over Swedes. After over 15 years in business, Gotlandssnus’ brands are distributed not only in their home country, but all over the world, including the U.S., Asia and other parts of Europe.

What’s the secret behind the quick success?

A Focus on Two Brands and High Quality

Many smokeless tobacco manufacturers manage dozens of brands and constantly release new snus brands.   While this can doubtlessly be a successful strategy, Jakobsson’s company went the opposite way:

Instead of flooding the market with many different brands, Gotlandssnus offers just two. Their reputation for making great snus and delicious flavors allows them to challenge market leaders without a vast portfolio and a series of acquisitions.

• The first is called Jakobsson’s. The name shows how proud the founder is of his creation. From the outside, Jakobsson’s appears to be a very traditional brand. The cans remind of old times with fancy gold lettering and fonts one might have seen on wooden boxes being loaded off of a late 1800s trade ship on Gotland’s port. Small arrows hint at a sailor’s most important tool: His compass. The content, however, is the opposite of tradition. A large variety of flavors offers snus lovers many different flavors, including innovative ones like apple and wild berries.

• Gotlandssnus’ other brand is Qvitt. With more and more people adopting healthy lifestyles, some snusers decide to reduce or eliminate their nicotine intake. Qvitt offers a snus substitute by packaging Ginseng, green tea, fluorine and flavoring in the familiar snus pouches. That way, snus lovers can quit nicotine without missing the flavor in their mouth.