Brand: Catch

A modern Swedish innovation?

Sweden has been a country of entrepreneurs since the time of the Vikings. Over the centuries, Sweden has given the world the adjustable wrenches, propellers, dynamite and the clothes zipper, to name just a few. And that’s not to mention the world of flavored snus! Here you can find the story behind this modern, non-gendered product and its heritage. A real catch!

1984

This was an action-packed year by any standards. With the Cold War still in full swing, the Swedish navy was kept occupied searching for submarines along the east cost. Personal computers were being sold with 128kb of memory. The Olympic Games was opened by a man in a rocket. And of course, the Miss Universe title was won by a beautiful Swedish girl from Eskilstuna. This was also the years that the Swedish Match company launched the modern Catch label of Swedish snus.

Catch - a groundbreaking new snus

The first amazing new thing about Catch was the licorice flavor, which was a startling innovation at the time. Second was the smaller portion size – followed up by the mini portion size a couple of years later. Portions themselves had already been around for a couple of decades, with the ubiquitous pouch seeing daylight at the beginning of the 1970s, but Catch helped to popularize this convenient way to enjoy snus. Market research showed that many customers were put off by the idea of putting loose tobacco into their mouths, so the pouch was the result of a period of search for a solution to this problem. The main challenge was to find the right level of moisture for the pouched snus so that the flavor and nicotine would still be released in a way that was comparable to loose snus. The other challenge was to find an ideal size that was comfortable but still provided a full helping of snus. Portions paved the way for new flavors and new ways to consume this popular tobacco product!

A wish list as long as your arm

The development of the Catch label was tricky, thanks to the market research that had identified many conflicting demands on the part of consumers. Snus users wanted a product that was new and innovative, while also being discreet, easy to use, unisex and widely available. After years of development, Catch Licorice was the result and the first Catch variety to be release. However it has been followed by the release of many other flavors, strengths and sizes that build on the success of the original Catch.

An optimistic and spontaneous brand

One of the most interesting pieces of info flagged up by consumer surveys show that a large proportion of Catch users are female. This is not terribly surprising, as it is well known that the greater variety of sizes and the fresh flavors provided under the Catch label are particularly appealing to both women and men. Portion snus in general is seen as a high quality smokeless tobacco product and is a popular alternative to smoking. Catch also has the advantage of being a newly established brand without any of the long history of being a product made for men and associated with masculinity. At BuySnus.ch we try to talk openly about products with our customers and we are proud to say that Catch is considered to be a refreshingly modern, contemporary and un-macho brand. Our own informal observations have shown Catch consumers to be generally optimistic and open-minded, as well as free-spirited and informed about current events. We have no idea if that was the target audience that Swedish Match was aiming at when they created the brand, but it certainly seems to be the state of affairs today – and it can only be a good thing for the brand!