Goteborg’s Rape’ Lime Snus – more Swedish Match Snus News

The world may be ending 21 December, but in the world of Swedish snus 2012 has been a year of plenty. New snus products and even new brands from Skruf AB, Swedish Match, Fiedler and Lundgren, GN Tobacco, Gotlandssnus, and Danish snus giant V2 Tobacco have added 18 new offerings at the SnusCentral.com Snus Store since New Year’s day!

This trend shows no sign of slowing. In the case of Swedish Match, two new very significant additions to their product portfolio are arriving soon.

Goteborg’s Rape’ Lime White Portion Snus

The upcoming release of a new Goteborg’s Rape’ flavor caught me completely by surprise. For centuries there was only one flavor: Goteborg’s Rape’. In 2006, Swedish Match added Goteborg’s Rape’ No 2; a lingonberry flavored snus. There have been Goteborg’s special editions and recently, a 250 gram kardus package, but no new flavors.

I’m very eager to experience Goteborg’s Rape’ Lime for a couple of reasons. I’m told lime is a very difficult flavor to get right in a snus. Knowing Swedish Match wouldn’t release anything they were not happy with, especially under the venerable Goteborg’s name, I anticipating this to be one unique and special snus.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Goteborg’s Rape’ #2 changed names by Week 18.  Since the new Goteborg’s is called “Lime” instead of “#3”, GR’ Lingon or GR’ Cranberry would make a lot more sense than maintaining a GR’ #2 product name.  The SnusCIA is pretty convinced this will happen but we’ll have to wait and see at this point.

General Long Extra Strong Portion snus will also finally be available via select snus eStores soon. It was released in February as an over-the-counter product in Norway but that’s pretty much the only place you could buy it.

This snus I have tried. Swedish Match gave us samples at their secret February New York Snus Summit. Think General Ekstra Sterk/Extra Strong only in a long portion pouch.

There is a slight difference in taste primarily due to the different run rates of original vs long portion pouches. If the recipe was changed at all, it was very slightly. In a head to head comparison, I was surprised to find I was leaning towards the General Long Extra Strong version.

This is particularly significant to the world of snus as General Ekstra Sterk portion (I’m still not used to calling it General Extra Strong portion) has been my favorite high nicotine snus since it was first released in December of 2008. For me to consider a replacement by General Long Extra Strong is indeed a snus event of world-wide significance.

Both Goteborg’s Rape’ Lime White Portion snus and General Long Extra Strong snus are scheduled to be released Week 18; the week of April 23rd 2012.

A new Catch Collection mini portion snus will also be released Week 18 to replace the current Catch Lafayette Street. The Catch Collection rotates their offerings every quarter.

Congratulations to Markus Ersmark

Twelve year Swedish Match veteran Markus Ersmark has taken on a significant new role. Effective March 1st, Markus moved to the management team of the Swedish Match/Philip Morris International Joint Venture company, SMPM International AB, as Area Manager of the Latin and Central American Region.

Ersmark’s name is a familiar one to most consumers of Swedish snus around the world. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be writing about him as you the reader would be bored.

Markus was one of the first to embrace the snus blogger community and their members. Swedish Match’s strong on-line visibility, name recognition, and high regard in the United States can be directly linked to the efforts and vision of Markus Ersmark and a very small group of like-minded individuals in Stockholm.

As SMPM International begins it’s world-wide expansion in earnest, I am confident the success they will acheive will in large part be attributable to visionary and talented managers like Mr. Ersmark. I hope he received a lot of stock options for making the move from Swedish Match to SMPMI. He’s worth it.

On a personal note, I will miss working with Markus on a regular basis.  He was a regular contributor to SnusCentral.org until he was muzzled by the PACT Act and Tobacco Control Act. Best of luck, Markus and congratulations for this well-deserved promotion.

Looking forward to Week 18,

LARRY WATERS
Swedish Snus Ambassador to the United States
Reporting for SnusCENTRAL.org