Thunder Coola Snus Sold Out; General Bullet Proof Update, and Granit Snus Surprise

Snus news briefing from the SnusCENTRAL Intelligence Agency ( SnusCIA) for February 28th, 2011.

Thunder Coola Extra Strong Snus Sold Out

Thunder Coola, an Extra Strong cola flavored snus introduced by V2 Tobacco on January 28th 2011 has sold out in less than a month. Thunder Coola was released as a one-shot Limited Edition. V2 planned to make Thunder Coola a regular part of the Thunder family of snus products once their new much larger snus factory came on line later this year.

No one expected Thunder Coola to sell out so quickly, according to the Uber-Director of Production at V2 Tobacco. Indeed, the desire for a Thunder Cola flavored snus caught every one off guard.

“When a brand new snus is released, most snus consumers buy at most a few cans to see if they like it before committing to a roll” stated SnusCentral Snus Store Manager Moe Unz. “In the case of Thunder Coola, snusers were ordering multiple rolls on their very first order. This may have been because it was publicized that the January production of Thunder Coola was going to be a single run until later in the year. I think it also sold out so quickly since no one anticipated a Cola Snus being so desired.”

Unz now faces a very uncomfortable Board of Directors meeting where he must explain why he launched Thunder Coola as a ‘Buy a 10 can roll/Pay for only 8 cans’ Special.

V2 Tobacco has faced a production capacity issue for about 6 months resulting in the 4th quarter 2010 shortages of certain Thunder Frosted products. This accelerated the necessity of investing in the new, much larger state-of-art snus factory. The demand for Thunder Coola or Thunder Cola as it is also known by American snus consumers, is forcing a change to V2’s expansion plans. Under pressure from Thunder Coola fans and the eStores which sell it, V2 is taking some extraordinary measures.

The SnusCIA has learned that V2 has leased additional space and added another production line. It is possible Thunder Coola will be back in production in 3 to 4 weeks.

Another challenge looms shortly as well. A top-secret new Thunder product still going through consumer testing was scheduled for a Limited Edition release early in the 2nd quarter of 2011. By all indications, this new Thunder Snus will match or even exceed sales numbers for Thunder Coola. V2 is already anticipating adding yet another additional production line to be able to keep pace.

Fortunately, the steam pasteurizing vessels and other production equipment required had already been ordered for the new factory. They will be installed into the additional leased space until the new factory is complete. They will then be moved to their new permanent home. The new V2 factory is now projected to begin production in the 3rd quarter of 2011.

UPDATE 3 Mar 2011: Thunder Chrom Long Special Edition is also slated for an early release. The new top secret Thunder product mentioned above will be included in the Chrom Long Edition so consumer taste testing has been accelerated to meet the release schedule.

General Onyx Bullet Proof Edition Transferred to Norway

Last year Swedish Match introduced a Limited Edition of their top of line General Onyx in bullet proof cans. Most of these were purchased by the Swedish Military with only 600 made available to retail snus consumers.

The SnusCIA learned late last year that General Bullet Proof version 2 was in the works. Markus Ersmark of Swedish Match Northern Europe revealed that after filling the orders for the Swedish Military, the remaining supply of General Bullet Proof will only be available to snus consumers in Norway. The war for Swedish snus continues and General Bullet Proof has been transferred to the Norwegian theater.

Hordes of grateful Norwegian snusers cheer the imminent arrival of the General to Norway. General Onyx fans in other countries are not so thrilled. Sacrifices must be made in times of war. Hopefully someday, everyone will again have free access to the new and improved General Bullet Proof can. Until then, we all fight the good fight in the EU and the United States to replace cigarettes with Real Swedish snus.

Granit Special White Portion Snus and Granit Stark Snus Big Hits in the US

The new additions to Fiedler and Lundgren’s Granit brand line are proving to be an unexpected hit in the USA. In Sweden, Granit has been a popular budget brand but while it’s popularity in the US market has been been limited to a loyal but relatively small number of American snusers. With the introduction of Granit Special White and Granit Stark strong portion snus, the market of Granit fans is increasing rapidly.

Granit Special White Portion is a licorice flavored white portion snus. Amazingly, snusers who have consistently hated everything licorice are being won over. Mick Hellwig, Editor of The Snuff Takers Ephemeris Magazine and SnusCentral.org Columnist has against his will become addicted to the new Granit Special. Even noted snus expert and Swedish Snus Ambassador to the United States, Larry Waters, has been smitten. Waters recently changed his review of Granit Special White Portion from 3 stars to 4 stars and revealed exclusively to the SnusCIA that Granit Special White is now a part of his regular rotation.

Granit Stark portion, a high nicotine snus, is also receiving very positive reviews. The Fiedler and Lundgren division of BAT has made a serious statement with these two new products. Congratulations appear to be in order.