About Ettan snus - how it all started
Ettan was created by a Swedish tobacco manufacturer named Jacob Fredrik Ljunglöf. Working together with his friend the renowned chemist Jacob Berzelius in the early 19th century, the pair came up with a new way to produce Swedish snus using fresh tobacco rather than fermented tobacco (which was how snus was typically made at the time). Using a mixture of salt, water, potash, and tobacco, the pair discovered that rather than waiting for up to six months to ferment tobacco, snus could now be made in a single week by using the new production method. Ljunglöf first released Ettan under the name “Ljunglöf's No. 1” in 1822. Using his newly developed manufacturing process to produce Ettan, Ljunglöf wrote down the formula in a secret code which he kept guarded. For the next few years, Ljunglöf's sold his creation on a relatively small scale and it soon became a popular brand of snus locally.
Generations of Ettan Snus
In 1826, Ljunglöf took over a struggling tobacco factory in Stockholm and within a few years he turned the operation around, increasing efficiency while stressing the importance of quality. By the end of the 1820s, Ljunglöf’s factory became the leading producer of tobacco in Sweden, producing his No.1 on a much larger scale. No.1 soon had its name changed to Ettan, which is a way of saying “the first” in Swedish. When Ljunglöf passed away in 1860, he was one of Sweden’s richest men, having created a relatively large tobacco empire. Ljunglöf’s son Knut took over the family business after his father’s passing and continued to expand his father’s tobacco empire. Knut was commonly referred to as “Snuskungen” (The Snus King) by those who knew him, and he was known to test the quality of Ettan by inhaling the aroma of new batches of Ettan every morning. In doing so, Knut was able to tell if the batch was up to snuff. If he didn’t approve of a sample, the entire batch of snus was rejected.
Ettan snus today
In the present day, the Ettan line of snus is now owned by tobacco giant Swedish Match and it is one of their most prominent brands as well as one of their best selling snus brands. According to some estimates, Ettan accounts for roughly onefifth of all snus sales in Sweden. Ettan is currently offered in three formats, Ettan Original Portion, Ettan White portion, and Ettan Loose. Swedish Match also offers “Ettan Kardus” for limited periods of time online, and fulltime at the Tobacco and Match Museum in Stockholm. Ettan Kardus is loose Ettan packed by hand, which is the same way Ettan was packaged in Ljunglöf’s time. Each package of Ettan Kardus contains 250 grams of snus.
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