Apart from being an interesting conversation starter in the anglosaxian world, the name Göteborgs Rapé comes with a story. The word rapé - pronounced [r?peI] with the emphasis on the 'ey'-sound - is french and literally means ripping. And Göteborg is the original Swedish spelling of the country's second largest city, Gothenburg. And for the record, Göteborg is pronounced [(yut´'uh-bor(ye)']. So although there might be a number of practical reasons for condensing the name into 'GR' - if you ask us, it should never have happened.
Göteborgs Rapé was not created by a determined inventor with a supreme nose. It evolved from trial and error. The people who experimented were sailors on the many merchant ships that moored in the port of Göteborg. This city has always been Sweden's gateway to the world. Here ships to and from Asia, the Caribbean and America - would depart and arrive.
Many of them brought home new spices and flavors. Sometime in the 19th century, a new kind of snus blend was developed. Seamen started to add different spices to their loose tobacco while creating their personal snus blends. It might have happened because they were lacking first-class ingredients or just for the plain and simple fun of it. Not even the Swedish Match historians know for sure. What we all know is that among all the different snus blends, one stood out as fresh and spicy. Or as some put it: "...a mild and sweet tobacco flavor with tones of juniper berry and fresh herbs." To us it sounds pretty much like describing a fine wine, and considering its not so sophisticated roots we think that it gives this extraordinary snus blend the credit it deserves.
In 1915, the Swedish government decided that the state should take control of the entire tobacco industry in Sweden. All of a sudden this state monopoly, controlled no fewer than 103 brands of snus. Of these, 25 were from Göteborg. In order to slim the portfolio down, a jury gathered to taste and test all these brands, narrowing them down to only five. In 1919, these five brands were registered. One of the winners was Göteborgs Rapé. From that point the sailors' snus was produced in a factory. Of course that meant the end to the hand ripping of the tobacco. From that point, modern grating technology has been used even for the rapé. In 1967, the good folks at Swedish Match introduced the now classic round can. The brands of Göteborg were all given labels in ocean-inspired blue colors. Thirty years later, the GR was the first to introduce white portion snus, making the pouches white with a dry surface and therefore less runny. Not bad for a product invented by chance by Göteborg-born sailors!
When Göteborgs Rapé was launched in 1919, it was common for snus brands to have very generic names, let it be product quality, inventor or geographic origin. The Rapé in Göteborgs Rapé was an addition to give the snus a more exclusive image. Since France was a place where it was supposed to be happening, it was only a logical to add a little Frenchness.
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