When I first started using snus I was surprised that the minis had only 20 portions compared to 24 for standard portions. I got used to it, but it's still a bit perturbing if I think about it too much.

I'm curious as to why this is. I'm sure in Sweden it's accepted as normal, but here in the States it may be viewed a bit differently.

I don't mind getting less nicotine. When I use to smoke (thank you snus) I wouldn't expect more cigarettes in a pack of light cigs compared to regulars. But I certainly wouldn't expect to get less. I think this may be viewed as a bit of a negative here in the States.

Alan

Hi Alan,

Swedish Match mini cans contains 20 pouches because we know that mini consumers are using less snus than consumers that are using standard portions, we know this through several surveys.

Best Regards,

Markus

Markus wrote:
Hi Alan,

Swedish Match mini cans contains 20 pouches because we know that mini consumers are using less snus than consumers that are using standard portions, we know this through several surveys.

Best Regards,

Markus

20 pouches versus 24 doesn't bother me near as much as the fact that 10 grams cost as much as 24 grams. There are a couple of mini portions that I really like, but I find paying the same money for less than half as much product, hard to justify when I'm spending my money.

Can you explain this pricing to me? Id really like to understand.

Tejas, I'm with you. I could live with 10 grams of product easier if the price was lower. You also have to understand that lös is most times a tad cheaper than portions, even though it's close to double the snus. 45 grams for SM, 50 for V2 and others.

I'm sure that the tobacco is the least expensive part of making snus.

I'm annoyed by the price difference also. Even more so when you consider 45 or 50 grams of lös is the same price and with some companies slightly cheaper. Although I'm sure that the tobacco is one of the lowest costs of making snus.

20 pouches versus 24 doesn't bother me near as much as the fact that 10 grams cost as much as 24 grams. There are a couple of mini portions that I really like, but I find paying the same money for less than half as much product, hard to justify when I'm spending my money.

Can you explain this pricing to me? I'd really like to understand.

Do I need to start a new thread to get an answer?

I have a thought on this even though I'm all over the board on snus use regular portions, white portions,maxi portions, & mini portions.Uses minis at work as talking for along time with a regular portion in seems to slur my speech just a tad bit. But the mini only user is kind of like what General mills in the states target to with the portion control oreoes 100 calorie pack that costs the same as the regular box of oreoes they know you want it but your concerned with in the case of snus the nicotine levels they also know you don't want as much as the regular portion users so they give you a smaller portion and 4 less in a tin and charge you the same it problay costs the same to make if not a little more since the demographic is smaller.

I use mini portions, regular and lös, and find that minis are very useful in situations where discretion is needed such as at work or at the theatre or other social situations where a large bulge in the lip caused by a regular portion or pris is not optimal.

Quoting Markus: "Swedish Match mini cans contains 20 pouches because we know that mini consumers are using less snus than consumers that are using standard portions, we know this through several surveys."

Of course they are using less snus - there is less snus in a mini portion! They may not actually be using less portions, though.

So why less portions in a can? The question has not really been answered. Why not put 24 portions in? 01 & 02 have 26 portions in them rather than 24 (which is a great deal - I'm certainly not complaining about that!), so it is possible to put in more snus and charge the same price for the product.

It does seem that mini users (and I would expect that the demographic Markus is talking about is mainly female) are being shortchanged here.

Hmmm...I'm not following the logic here. Agreed not everyone double-barrels mini portions, or needs to chain-snus them to maintain nic levels. But how, exactly, does a smaller portion size and nic level correspond to the reduced number of portions per can? And WHY does the price not reflect the smaller product/content per can ???

It's not only a poser...it is potentially off-putting to those of us who prefer to purchase economically, or in bulk. Especially since some of the best flavors are only available in the mini portion ( eg; Catch Cardomom/Cinnamon). We're OK with the mini portion size, and easily accept there are only 20 portions per can...but the price being equivalent to a can of reg snus is a bit much, when we stop to consider we are plowing thru the cans with astounding rapidity.

Is it simple greed or what? 4 extra portions will fit in the can without problem. Can't fathom the logic..but we're too new to snus to make any sweeping judgments, and it seems a bit peevish to complain about ANY SM product
That said...there ARE some brands who offer 24 portions of minis per can, and some of those those minis 5 mg nic. Yes...we too would vote for an equality of portion-per-can ratio, if SM were a democratic process LOL. Sure hope they consider offering Cardomom/Cinnoman in reg white portion size ( and number). We are still waffling whether or not to order rolls of said mini because of the economic aspect. Why pay the same to get less? That type of thing.

Ahhh....the mysteries and vagaries of life..!!!!

One thing is for sure and certain in a world with precious few certitudes....SM only has a wee little room for improvement, which we translate as wanting more portions per can, or offering flavors in larger sizes! American snus-wannabe stuff pales in comparison across the board !!!! IMHO

Gina

Gina, nice to see you back. Some of us were a tad worried.

Another thing I think us Americans miss is the taxes and price of a can of snus in Sweden, Finland etc. I have no idea how the prices over there look, but I know some countries charge taxes by weight. In the US we see pricing without taxes and,well , honestly whatever the first few stores wanted to price it at. This may be a case of SM trying to save their B&M customers money, but it doesn't translate to us.

Well, I'm just trying to figure this out, but I think it goes something like this. Gram for gram, the amount of snus in a can of minis compared to regulars.

I think it's payroll. Can you imagine how much it costs to pay the snus elves to seal up those itty bitty mini portions?! They are obviously experts in their trade and they probably command a hefty salary.

The main argument I've heard was the packaging costs. Of course I've also heard snus involved Unicorns.

Swedish Match has said before that the cost is about the same to product standard size portions and mini portions. Through surveys they have done, they have found that mini portion consumers use less than regular portion users, which is the reason for this.

Yeah, it's all about subsidization (and unicorns!)

If Swedish Match (or anyone else for that matter) can make an extra X amount of profit from shorting the mini portions, then that gives them a little more wiggle room to keep producing 45 gram lös cans. They figure that since mini portion users, by nature, use snus less frequently, they can get by using them to subsidize their products with a lower profit margin. I call it a communist way of doing business, but it's pure capitalism.

We've been doing it here in this country forever, and not just with tobacco. The car companies for years have been selling their base models at a loss, while making killer percentage of profit off their luxury models. Each time someone bought a Ford Thunderbird, they were making it possible for someone to buy a Ford Escort, since Ford was basically selling that one at cost. Communism, says I!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

The production cost of minis and standard size portions are roughly the same. Economies of scale apply and the amount of differently sized minis that we produce are very much lower than the number of standard sized portions.

Resulting from a weight based taxation of 336 SEK/KG there is a notable price difference between the two products on the Swedish market. We understand that it can seem strange where this price difference doesn't occur. On the other hand we are sure that the Swedish consumers happily would switch to your situation. As roughly 4 USD per can is a better price for both mini and standard sized portions than on the Swedish market.

As Markus previously have mentioned our consumer research in Sweden indicated that the mini consumers used less portions. Trough focus groups, 20 portions tested as the ideal number.

We do understand your concern however and we take your feedback with us as we are very eager to make our portfolio as attractive as we can for US consumers.

Hope this was helpful.

Best regards,
Joakim & Markus