No one from the press is allowed to visit.
– We don’t want you in here, says Jesper Krabbe.
He is the director of a company in North Jutland, which attracted a lot of attention last week. Because it has just opened a new giant factory in Haverslev, which produces a controversial product.
Nicotine pouches, better known as snus.
Parents call Jesper Krabbe “the merchant of death”, referring to the fact that his nicotine pouches are particularly dangerous for children and young people whose brains are developing – and do not respond well to tobacco products.
That snuff is both popular and harmful to health is an indisputable fact. But to call a skilled businessman, whose factory employs 130 employees, the merchant of death is probably what you call an exaggeration of dimensions.
Should the same predicate be applied to cigarette manufacturers, arms manufacturers, vodka brewers and fattening fast food empires?
No way.
Let me state at the outset that in business, morals and ethics are an important compass to navigate by. And it has become a competitive parameter. Companies in the vast majority of industries can no longer avoid how they act both internally and externally, and what impact they have on society.
And luckily for that.
Everything from corporate responsibility to social responsibility and sustainability is wrapped up in voluminous CSR reports, which companies can hand out in the employee canteen or at customers and suppliers.
We expect companies to be aware of their responsibility and impact. That they think about something other than the bottom line, fat salaries and dividends for shareholders.
But when a company like NGP Tobacco sells a legal product and otherwise complies with the rules and regulations that apply, we cannot allow ourselves to knock it on the head.
Should Jesper Krabbe close his factory and fire all employees?
If you are of the conviction that snus is the work of the devil, you must instead direct your outrage at the politicians and decision-makers who draw up the laws and regulations.
It is they who set the framework – not the snuff manufacturer, who has smelled a good business, and who, moreover, creates both jobs and tax revenue. Supply and demand within the framework of the law.
It is not the responsibility of ordinary traders to conduct business based on what should be legal and what should not be legal. This kind of moralizing should be packed away please.
2024-08-26 18:08:40
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