Willys scraps snus coolers

Soon, refrigerated snus may be a thing of the past.

Food giant Willys is now phasing out its snus coolers. News, reports and analyses in Sweden and around the world.

For a year and a half, Willys has gradually removed snus coolers in its stores. The plan is to replace all coolers with cabinets.

– We do it because it saves energy. We don’t want to upset anyone, says Louise Hulgaard, press spokesperson at Willys.

She says they have received fewer reactions than expected and have not seen any change in snus sales in the stores where the coolers have been removed. Louise Hulgaard also points out that neither manufacturers nor suppliers have refrigerated the snus.

But Samuel Lundell, chairman of the consumer association Snusarnas Riksförbund, has a different opinion. According to him, the abolition of snus coolers is one of the setbacks that he believes snus users face.

– This affects the taste of the snus, regardless of what they think at Willys, he says and continues:

“Like a warm beer”

– If you’re sitting outside on a hot summer day, you don’t want a warm beer, you want a cold one. It’s the same with snus. It tastes better and the nicotine works better.

Samuel Lundell believes that this, plus the high prices, means that it will soon no longer be worthwhile for snus users to shop in physical stores.

– It seems more important for Willys to save electricity and money, it doesn’t matter if we customers are worse off.  

The National Association of Snus Users promotes the interests of snus users and currently consists of just over 5,000 members. The association is financed entirely by its members, according to chairman Samuel Lundell.