Skoal

Skoal is a brand of dipping tobacco  manufactured by the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company. It first appeared in 1934 with a Fine Cut Wintergreen flavor but has since been expanded.

## History:

Skoal's Bandit line, a smaller pouch, first was released in 1983 with Mint, Wintergreen, and Straight flavors, and some reports indicate a classic flavor may have followed. The only current "Bandit" products on the market are Mint and Wintergreen. It seemed to have been preceded by a brand known as the "Good Luck Sak-Pack" which was sold between 1973-1983, but only in test markets. However, it seemed to set a trend toward Skoal attempting to produce a product that minimized or eliminated spitting, arguably to gain market share from smokers. Advertisements for "Skoal Flavor Packs" from the mid 1990s were targeted toward cigarette smokers. An article from the National Institutes of Health indicates these were on the market from 1993 to 1999. U.S. Smokeless followed up with Revel Tobacco Packs from 2001-2006 (*not to be confused with Revel lozenges offered by R.J. Reynolds).* After that, U.S. Smokeless returned to the Skoal brand and introduced Skoal Dry, again advertising to smokers and highlighting a "no spit" feature. Skoal Dry lasted from 2006-2008 and had Cinnamon, Menthol, and Regular flavors. Skoal Snus, the product still on the market today, first appeared in 2011 and has gone through some variations since.

In April 1999, the United States Tobacco Company (UST) re-positioned Skoal and brought the first major packaging change.

In December 2002, the introduction of Berry Blend was announced. It was the first line extension since 1993 and joined the current lineup of wintergreen, straight, mint, classic, cherry, and spearmint. Skoal followed by releasing Berry Blend Pouches in June 2003, following its introduction of Wintergreen pouches in fall of 2002.

Skoal added Vanilla Blend to its lineup on July 10, 2003.

Skoal's first full-size pouches were released in 2004.??

In 2004, to celebrate the brand's 70th anniversary, Skoal packaged its original Fine Cut Wintergreen in a commemorative fiberboard can and ran a promotional giveaway; the promotion lasted from March 1 to June 30, 2004.

In 2004, Skoal added Long Cut Apple to its lineup, which became available for sale June 21, 2004, followed by Apple Pouches on September 12, 2005. The pouches were eventually discontinued, but re-released later.

Skoal added Citrus in Long Cut and Pouch varieties in early 2007. Like with Skoal's apple pouches, the citrus pouches were eventually discontinued but would be re-released later.

Skoal Edge, a wintergreen variant, was released around 2008.

Skoal added Straight Pouches to its offerings on August 4, 2008. Straight Pouches were taken off the market for a couple of years and brought back in 2019.

The Skoal X-TRA line was released nationally in 2011, and ReadyCut and "Neat Cut" entered test markets during 2011-2012.

## Current varieties:

* Fine Cut Wintergreen
* Long Cut Wintergreen
* Wintergreen Pouches
* Wintergreen Bandits
* Long Cut Mint
* Mint Pouches
* Mint Bandits
* Long Cut Straight
* Straight Pouches
* Long Cut Classic
* Long Cut Spearmint
* Long Cut Cool Spearmint
* Long Cut Apple Tobacco Blend
* Long Cut Berry Tobacco Blend
* Long Cut Cherry Tobacco Blend
* Long Cut Citrus Tobacco Blend
* Long Cut Peach Tobacco Blend
* Apple Tobacco Blend Pouches
* Berry Tobacco Blend Pouches
* Citrus Tobacco Blend Pouches
* X-tra Long Cut Wintergreen
* X-tra Wintergreen Pouches
* X-tra Long Cut Mint
* X-tra Mint Pouches
* Snus Mint
* Snus Smooth Mint
* Long Cut Dark (Canada only)
* Snus Original (Canada only)

## Discontinued Varieties:

* Long Cut Vanilla Blend
* Peach Pouches
* Dry Cinnamon Pouches
* Dry Menthol Pouches
* Dry Pouches
* Fine Cut Straight
* Key
* Long Cut Edge (Wintergreen)
* Long Cut Frost
* Snus Cinnamon
* Snus Citrus
* Bandits Classic
* Bandits Straight
* Long Cut Select
* ReadyCut Mint
* ReadyCut Straight
* ReadyCut Wintergreen
* X-tra Long Cut Mint Chill
* X-tra Mint Chill Pouches

## Gallery

Skoal Dry advertisementSkoal Dry advertisementSkoal Edge advertisementSkoal Edge advertisementA can of Skoal FrostA can of Skoal Winter BlendSkoal Vanilla advertisement
## References

1. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5735793/
2. ↑ http://www.smokeshopmag.com/0499/brand.htm
3. ↑ http://www.smokeshopmag.com/1202/brand.htm
4. ↑ http://www.smokeshopmag.com/0803/brand2.htm
5. ↑ http://www.value-analyse.de/value-forum/showthread.php/954-United-States-Tabacco-Inc-UST/page4
6. ↑ http://www.smokeshopmag.com/0204/brand2.htm
7. ↑ http://www.smokeshopmag.com/0604/brand.htm
8. ↑ https://csnews.com/skoal-apple-blend-pouches
9. ↑ https://csnews.com/skoal-citrus-blend
10. ↑ https://www.cspdailynews.com/tobacco/ust-will-focus-new-products-2008
11. ↑ https://csnews.com/skoal-straight-pouches
12. ↑ https://csnews.com/skoal-straight-pouches