Hello!
My name is Kevin, from Estonia. Snus has been my passion for many
many years and products from Gotlandssnus were the first ones that got me
hooked.
Through the years I've met with many awesome people thanks to snus and my
host Jimi from Gotlandssnus is one of them. He was kind enough to invite me to
Gotland and let me stay with his family. Also he organized me a absolutely
awesome tour in Gotlandssnus brand new factory in Roma, Gotland.
I was picked up by marketing manager Markus Wahlgren and the small trip of
about 17km (10mi) started.
Once we got there, we started the tour from the beginning of snusmaking. We
went to a little warehouse next to the main factory, where all the tobacco is
grinded. You can't even imagine how wonderful the smell was in there- all those
different sorts make up a smell that only a true tobacco fan can
enjoy! The tobacco comes in on 250kg pallets and are then shovelled onto a
line that guided it to a grinder, which grinds it into a powder-like
state.
Also I want to point out that the tobacco blends that Gotlandssnus
uses is a absolutely top quality, I saw it with my own eyes.
Then the powder is transported by a big tube to the main factory where all
the magic happens.
The main factory is situated in 3 floors- pasteurization, packing line and
warehouse on the first floor, offices and laboratory on the second and offices
and a café on third.
Outside of the producing room they have placed all the cans of the products
they make, and the can will light up according to what they currently are
producing. "We have that just for fun!" as Mr. Wahlgren said.
Ofcourse before you enter to the producing facility you have to dress up in
white coat and cover your shoes and hair, just to be sure that nothing would
impact the quality of snus.
Inside the facility you find a small room where the pasteurizing drums are.
The snus from the first warehouse is directly transported to here via a tube
and will spin around in those high temperature drums for a certain amount of
time. In the process all the ingredients are added, but ofcourse exact recepies
are secret and know to only a handful of people. But boy, aren't they all good!
Next to that room are brand new packing lines where all the packing into
portions, labelling and quality control is happening. And I can say that the
quality is of highest standards, every can is weighed to make sure users will
get the exact amount as promised.
And actually all the plastic cans are also made here in Gotland to ensure
that every part of the product is 100% controlled and of highest standards.
Moving on you'll reach to next room where the cans are packed into rolls
and then to boxes, ready to be shipped out.
Moving to the second floor you will find a spaceous lab, where all the
flavours you find in Gotlandssnus products are tested, mixed and sent to
production. And as far as I've heard, there are really intresting flavours
coming out soon under Jakobsson's. But ofcourse I'm not allowed to talk about
them, so keep an eye out!
During my time at Gotlandssnus I was blessed to meet so many wonderful
people who really aren't there to earn big profit for the company, but seeing
how passionate they are about talking about Jakobsson's I know that these
people really love what they do. And doing what you love, makes a great product
aswell!
So I want to end with a big thank you to Mr Karlsson, Mr Wahlgren, Mr
Vainio and all the others who I had chance to meet! Thank you and keep doing
what you do best!
Follow the link below to see little video tour of the factory: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/a1smarv3a8axag6/AADIAKKj7Iq-E6L8l2g8gMxAa
PS! This story is not in any way paid by Gotlandssnus, this is my own
vision and experiences of the company and their products.:)
Kevin Volter
