Blend (cigarette)
{{short description|Swedish cigarette brand}}
{{Advert|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox brand
| name= Blend
| logo=
| image= 250px
| caption= An old Finnish pack of Blend cigarettes, with a Finnish text warning at the bottom of the pack.
| type= Cigarette
| producedby= Swedish Match AB
| origin= Sweden
| introduced= {{start date and age|1971}}
| discontinued=
| related=
| markets=See Markets
| previousowners=
| trademarkregistrations=
| ambassadors=
| tagline=
| website=
| footnotes = Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1
}}
Blend is a Swedish brand of cigarettes. It was originally owned and manufactured by Swenska Tobaks AB and later Swedish Match AB, until Swedish Match AB sold the brand to Austria Tabak along with the rest of its cigarette production.{{cite web|url=http://www.swedishmatch.com/sv/Vart-foretag/Foretagshistorik/AB-Svenska-tobaksmonopolet/|title=Swedish Match - Svenska Tobaks AB|website=Swedishmatch.com|date=17 October 2013 |accessdate=4 June 2018}}{{Cite web |date=2022-11-16 |title=Swedish Match - Slutavtal om försäljning av cigarettverksamheten |url=https://www.swedishmatch.com/sv/Media/Pressmeddelanden-och-nyheter/Nyheter/Slutavtal-om-forsaljning-av-cigarettverksamheten/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116191949/https://www.swedishmatch.com/sv/Media/Pressmeddelanden-och-nyheter/Nyheter/Slutavtal-om-forsaljning-av-cigarettverksamheten/ |archive-date=2022-11-16 }}
History
Blend was introduced in 1971 by Swenska Tobaks AB as a low-tar cigarette brand.{{Cite web |date=2017-12-29 |title=Oförändrad lungcancerrisk med sänkt tjärhalt {{!}} Tobaksfakta |url=http://www.riskbruk.se/default.aspx?id=7871 |access-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229052750/http://www.riskbruk.se/default.aspx?id=7871 |archive-date=2017-12-29 }} The first variant, which came to be known as Yellow Blend after the color of the package, had 12 milligrams of tar.{{cite web|url=http://www.riskbruk.se/default.aspx?id=7871|title=Oförändrad lungcancerrisk med sänkt tjärhalt|date=2017-06-24|website=Tobaksfakta|language=Swedish|access-date=2017-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229052750/http://www.riskbruk.se/default.aspx?id=7871|archive-date=2017-12-29|url-status=dead}} The following year, a menthol flavored variant was launched called Blend Blue.{{cite web|url=http://www.cigarettespedia.com/index.php/BrandBlend |title=BrandBlend |publisher=Cigarettes Pedia |date=2011-03-29 |accessdate=2017-12-28}}
The Vita blend was introduced with a tar content of 8 mg in 1977, and then the variants Ultra (5 mg, launched in 1979) and Ultima (2 mg, launched in 1981).{{Cite web |date=2017-04-22 |title=Produkter |url=http://www.tobakshistoria.com/ArkivProdukter.php |access-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422175418/http://www.tobakshistoria.com/ArkivProdukter.php |archive-date=2017-04-22 }} Although the company pushed towards lower tar content in its brands, it hasn't been shown that lower tar content is any less harmful.
Markets
The brand's focal market is Sweden, but its products are also available in Finland, Spain and Russia.{{cite web|url=http://www.cigarettespedia.com/index.php/BrandBlend|title=BrandBlend - Cigarettes Pedia|website=Cigarettespedia.com|accessdate=4 June 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.zigsam.at/B_Blend.htm |title=Blend |publisher=Zigsam.at |date= |accessdate=2017-12-28}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cigarety.by/brand.php?n=10&l=1&p=0&w=BLEND|title=Brands|website=Cigarety.by|accessdate=4 June 2018|archive-date=16 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316214738/http://www.cigarety.by/brand.php?n=10&l=1&p=0&w=BLEND|url-status=dead}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}