WiJo, the Swedish nicotine pouch manufacturer, has opened a production facility in South Carolina, becoming the first Scandinavian pouch maker to establish US-based manufacturing for the American market. The move reflects both the scale of US demand for nicotine pouches and a strategic calculation that domestic production provides regulatory and commercial advantages in a market where supply chain resilience and American manufacturing credentials are increasingly valued.
WiJo is not a household name in the US market in the way that ZYN or VELO are, but it supplies private-label and branded products to a significant number of regional and specialty retailers. The South Carolina facility will serve these customers with shorter lead times and without the import logistics that have complicated supply chain management for European manufacturers selling into the American market. It also potentially positions WiJo to respond more quickly to FDA regulatory developments that might require product modifications.
The decision to locate in South Carolina reflects a combination of factors: available industrial sites, state-level economic development incentives, reasonable proximity to East Coast distribution networks, and a labor market with manufacturing expertise. Several other consumer goods manufacturers have made similar location decisions in recent years, and South Carolina has become an attractive destination for companies looking to establish US manufacturing presence outside traditional industrial regions.
For the US nicotine pouch market, the WiJo facility represents another data point in the localisation of supply chains for a product category that has grown rapidly enough to justify significant capital investment. When a Swedish company opens a factory in South Carolina to serve American demand for a product that barely existed five years ago, it is a meaningful indicator of how quickly the category has matured.
The facility is expected to reach full production capacity within eighteen months, with initial output focused on the regional retail accounts that have been WiJo’s primary US customer base. Longer-term expansion plans would depend on market conditions and regulatory developments that are difficult to predict with confidence in the current US nicotine product environment.
