British American Tobacco is to extend its test markets for smokeless Swedish-style snus and open its own snus research facility, underlining its commitment to develop and market less harmful tobacco products.

Snus – small sachets of moist tobacco placed under the upper lip – is acknowledged by several independent health experts to be at least 90 per cent less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Backing the product with two of its biggest brands, British American Tobacco has run small, yearlong sales pilots in South Africa, where snus was virtually unknown, and in Sweden, where snus is more popular than cigarettes but where the company was the first to introduce it under a cigarette brand, to find out if this could further extend its appeal to smokers and to test commercial viability.
In South Africa, British American Tobacco introduced snus under its Peter Stuyvesant and Lucky Strike brands, to see if well-known brands could convince smokers to try it. The pilot 240 Johannesburg outlets will now extend to 800 later this year, including another city. According to BAT, there have been important learnings from the test, some leading to changes. At first the tins had to be labelled with the health warning for cigarettes. Research showed that few consumers saw snus as less harmful than smoking and many even believed it was more harmful. In a positive step, South Africa’s department for health has now allowed a change of health warning from “Causes cancer” to “Tobacco is addictive”. A voluntary warning on the side of the tin will also say: “This tobacco product can be harmful to your health”. The company says it will also rethink its consumer communications. Jimmi Rembiszewski, BAT’s marketing director, said: “Meanwhile, we believe the lack of understanding poses serious questions about how information can be provided to consumers about less harmful products, which we are keen to discuss with regulators and members of the public health community.”
In Sweden, the company launched snus in Sweden under its global Lucky Strike brand. The 300 Stockholm retail outlets have already been increased to 440, reaching Malmö and Gothenberg. A new distribution deal has now been signed covering 1,780 convenience stores, kiosks and petrol stations and limited sales in Oslo, Norway, began this month.
British American Tobacco opened a new facility to research and test new snus products at its Southampton R&D laboratories this month. It stated that its snus will continue to be made in Sweden. (ci)