| Klubi | |
| Type: | Cigarette |
| Producedby: | Rettig Group Oy Ab |
| Origin: | Finland |
| Discontinued: | Mid 2000s |
| Markets: | Finland |
| Footnotes: | Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1 |
Klubi was a Finnish brand of cigarettes, which was manufactured by "Rettig Group Oy Ab".[1]
Klubi was founded in 1901 and was sold with a number of different variants of cigarettes. The best known of these were the Klubi 7 (Club 7) and its successor Klubi 77 (Club 77), so-called "straw clubs" with hollow paper holders and green-and-white packaging, the white inner cover of which was allegedly used by people for taking notes and even architectural drawing.[2] [3]
In the beginning of the 20th century, consumers began to demand lighter cigarettes from the Rettig plant. The first product versions were Klubi 1 (1901) and Klubi 2 (1902), but these were not very popular in Finland, although the Klubi 2 cigarette reached an export success in the United Kingdom. Domestic success began with the Klubi 7 variant in 1907. The best-selling Klubi cigarette products from the 1910s until the 1930s besides the Klubi 7 were the Klubi 17, the Klubi Malta became popular variants while more and more Klubi cigarettes were introduced to the market.
In 1943 the Klubi 7 variant had to be replaced due to a lack of raw materials with a new version called Klubi 77, which then became the all-time most popular Klubi variant.
Klubi cigarettes were produced until the mid 1990s, when new anti-tobacco regulations of the European Union became a major obstacle. No agreement had been reached about the necessary production technology of low-tar cigarettes. In 2003 the Franco-Spanish tobacco business Altadis bought the brand and tried to market the Klubi 77 cigarettes in a modernized box, but the nostalgic novelty product no longer fulfilled consumer expectations.[4] In later years the plant was producing at least the Klubi products Klubi 22, which was filtered, and Klubi 27.[5]