Snus tobacco and the importance of quality

When picking a snus pouch, the quality of the product is important as you want to add the best to your rotation. The quality of snus is affected by many things, which can alter the experience you will receive, highlighting the importance of product quality. In this article, each aspect is examined. From the type of tobacco to the pouch material used to the best brands and manufacturers, it gives you the information you need to buy snus you can trust.

What factors affect the Snus quality?

Many things can affect the quality of the snus you buy, from the types of tobacco used to the brand of snus, all of which are detailed further in the article. However, there are core factors that have a heavy influence on product quality, including:

• Ingredients
• The manufacturing process and quality control
• Storage conditions

Keep reading to see how these factors affect the quality of snus you buy.

Snus ingredients: how do they affect quality?

The ingredients that are used to make snus need to be high quality if a premium product is wanted, highlighting the importance of what makes up these tobacco pouches. The ingredients include:

• Ground Tobacco
• Water
• Salt
• Sodium Carbonate
• Moisture-preserving agents
• Taste Enhancers
• Flavorings

If these ingredients are in every snus pouch, how does the quality differ between products? Different types of each substance are used, some being better than others. However, the better components cost more, usually seen in the price. It is important to note that the price isn’t correlated with snus quality.

What affects the snus tobacco quality?

Tobacco is a type of plant that grows in the Americas, Australia, Southern Africa, and even parts of the South Pacific. With this coverage comes different growing conditions the plant has had to evolve to flourish in, leading to 79 types of tobacco available. Each type of tobacco will have a unique taste, and each brand has its blend of tobacco leaves, creating a distinct flavor. To ensure the plant is healthy, precautions are taken when grown, including:

• Fertile soil - the plant needs nutrients to grow.
• Plant spacing - tobacco needs space to flourish and not hinder surrounding plant growth.
• Pesticides - insects damage the leaves, reducing the product quality.
• Harvesting at the right time - tobacco needs to be harvested when the plant is at its ripest.
• Curing process - There are different types of curing, but each physically and chemically changes the leaves to achieve the desired properties.

Another crucial step is grading. The tobacco leaves are piled and grouped in terms of leaf position on the plant, color, size, and maturity. By doing this, snus producers can rely on the tobacco they receive.

The best flavorings

The tasting experience of snus is hugely valued among snusers. As well as the dominant tobacco flavor, other additives such as bergamot, lavender, and rose oil are used in different products to achieve certain tastes. Some of the more popular profiles are detailed below, with some of the flavorings used by Swedish Match:

Mint - peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, and menthol.

Coffee - coffee extract, cacao, cocoa butter, caramel.

Licorice - anise oil, licorice root.

Fruit - orange oil, lemongrass, lemon oil, raspberry juice, sugar.

Snus producers use quality oils, aromas, and herbs to achieve their desired flavor. It is important to use natural flavorings, as they promise a tasting experience closer to the real deal, improving the overall product quality.

How does the manufacturing process affect snus quality?

The snus manufacturing process contains many steps, from the very start of cultivating the plant to packaging the individual pouches into their cans. Some are more crucial than others and are detailed below.

Pasteurizing is the most important step in the snus manufacturing process.

Why, you may ask. Pasteurizing the tobacco removes and kills the bacteria responsible for producing carcinogenic compounds like tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). Research has proven that fewer TSNAs are found in snus compared to other tobacco products like cigarettes, which are fire-cured.

The importance of quality control

Throughout the production process, strict quality control is taken after each step, checking the product before it enters the next stage. By meeting these checkpoints and standards throughout the process, a premium product is guaranteed than if these steps were not there.

An example of this is Swedish Match’s GOTHIATEK Standard, which ensures all of the Swedish Match products meet specific guidelines. These guidelines control undesired compounds, detailed in the table, with their limit included.

Other regulated compounds include cadmium, arsenic, nitrite, and many more. All of these are harmful chemicals, highlighting the importance of regulation of snus. Those that are highly regulated should be far better quality.

How should snus be stored?

Another factor affecting snus quality is keeping it as fresh as possible. Some of this is down to the manufacturer, retailer, and yourself. However, all manufacturers will store and transport their products in optimal conditions. On the other, the retailer and you may not.

Snus should be stored in a cool and dry place, out of direct sunlight. A fridge is perfect if you want your snus to last even longer. Moreover, if you have many cans, try freezing them until the others run out.

How many convenience stores do you see refrigerating the snus they sell? And how long has it been on the shelf for? How does that affect the amount of time it will stay fresh after you have bought it? All of these questions show the importance of buying from a trusted retailer, like Snusdirect, as you can be sure to receive fresh and correctly stored snus.

Who are the best snus manufacturers?

It is important to buy snus from the best manufacturers as it ensures a top-quality snus pouch, as highlighted above. But how do you pick a good snus manufacturer? Are they the biggest, do they have to be niche, or do they have to be headquartered in Sweden? The answer is neither. It’s all circumstantial.

All the manufacturers ’products stocked at Snusdirect are of fantastic quality. Some of these manufacturers include Swedish Match and British American Tobacco, some of the oldest manufacturers in the market.

Swedish Match has been around for decades and has created many top brands, including General. In comparison, Skruf Snus and Nordic Snus were formed around 2000, more recently than Swedish Match, bringing a modern twist, whether that’s to the manufacturing process or the snus pouch itself.

What are the best snus brands?

Snusers have different opinions when it comes to the best pouches, but when it comes to brands, some stand a lot taller than others.

• General Snus
• Skruf Snus
• Göteborgs Rapé White

You may have heard of the brands mentioned above, with General and Göteborgs Rapé being around since the mid-1800s! All that time has enabled both brands to refine and perfect their production process and, in turn, their products. Skruf, on the other hand, was first sold in 2003 and hasn’t looked back since.

Do you want a premium product to elevate your rotation? The brands and manufacturers mentioned above are a great place to start.