Under the name GN Tobacco, Swedish Smokeless Solutions began it’s highly successful journey just 20 years ago. Snus was unknown in the rest of the world and nicotine pouches were yet to be invented. Smoking was still rampant in Sweden, as in many other countries. The information campaigns from NGO organizations like A Non Smoking Generation and Visir began in the 1970:s and also had some effect on the numbers.
In a small tobacconist shop in Stockholm, Gevorg Nalbandyan realized that snus was going to be huge. And that it was far too good to just sell in Sweden and the Nordics. Back then, Swedish Match dominated the market for snus and had more or less a monopoly on both production and distribution. So he wanted to challenge that monopoly and started his own snus production under the name GN Tobacco. He also started hos own distribution company, Gajane Gross, to avoid having to not have to rely on the “monopolistic” Swedish Match distribution network. The rest is history.
Why a new name?
The name GN Tobacco has served us well until now. All over the world, it has become synonymous with excellent quality, taste, strength, and affordability. But the word tobacco carries with it the burden of a dark and troublesome history. Most people connect tobacco with smoking and all the dangers and issues which comes from burning the tobacco.
Another factor is the development within the ESG field – Environment, Social and Governance. More and more, large corporations have established rules for which types of clients they work with, and business areas they can be associated with.
Tobacco, alcohol and weapons are examples which some companies don’t want to be involved in. Tobacco, mainly since it is associated with smoking and the deaths of over 6 million people every year. Smokeless tobacco, on the other hand, has probably saved millions of lives of former smokers who have shifted to snus and nicotine pouches.
Why Swedish Smokeless Solutions?
In 2024, we decided to name the company Swedish Smokeless Solutions. Though Armenian owned, Swedish Smokeless is based founded and based in Sweden. Our state-of-the-art factory is in Enköping, a small town an hour’s drive from Stockholm where the company was initially founded.
We aim to keep developing new ways of enjoying tobacco and nicotine. But nicotine free products are certainly on the table as well – everything is possible at Swedish Smokeless Solutions.
