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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNAT
IONAL
MAY/JUNE 2014
18-store chain Cox’s Smoker Outlet, has seen
“steady growth” in smokeless for the past two
years. He expects the category to do even better
in 2014 than 2013.
The way one c-store retailer views it, even
with all the many prohibitive smoking bans and
restrictions, “you can still go to a bar here and
ask for a spit cup,” as Jeremy Goerts, operations
manager at Speedi Car Wash & Fuel, tells
Tobacco Business
. “So apart from e-cigs and
vapors, we’re seeing more demand for smokeless
now. People are asking for it by name. We’re
getting a lot of requests for the Kodiak brand
currently.”
He is also witnessing more requests to buy “a
whole log,”or five cans in a pack, indicating that
the category has staying power with consumers
now.
Growth is also being witnessed on the
manufacturing end. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco
Company, owned by Altria Group, recently
reported that it will invest about $118 million
to build a new processing facility and expand its
existing plant in Kentucky.
Snus
Originating in Sweden and also known as
“dry smokeless tobacco” because it is not only
smoke-free, but spit-free as well (users place
the pouch discreetly under their lip), the U.S.
snus category is probably about the size (in sales
volume) of the RYO pipe tobacco segment,
which is also about the size of the little cigar
category, according to Bishop. It is a bit smaller
than e-cigs, “but it is a category that continues
to grow,” he says. “Demand for snus is growing
as the segment expands,” and “demand is
shifting as the assortment evolves,” he adds.
Regarding the former observation, snus
unit sales are growing at just over four percent
