Who Owns Black Buffalo?

Black Buffalo was founded in Chicago around 2015 by Matthew Hanson, Jeffery D'Addario, and partners with a blunt premise: replicate the experience of traditional smokeless tobacco, the long-cut dip, the pouch, the ritual, but without the tobacco leaf itself. The founders aimed at the millions of American dippers who wanted to quit tobacco without giving up the format.

The company's core innovation was manufacturing 'dip' from edible leaves treated to carry nicotine and flavor, delivering a product that looks, packs, and feels like Copenhagen or Skoal but contains no tobacco. Alongside the long-cut line, it added conventional-format nicotine pouches, the fastest-growing smokeless format, in flavors like Wintergreen, Mint, Peach, and Straight.

Distribution began primarily through its own ecommerce site, which built a strong direct consumer base, followed by gradual expansion into convenience stores and tobacco retail across the US. FDA marketing authorization requirements for nicotine products shaped its growth pace, as the category awaited product-level decisions.

Through the early 2020s Black Buffalo raised venture funding to scale manufacturing and retail reach, establishing itself as the leading tobacco-free dip alternative brand in a category dominated by Swedish-style pouch makers like Zyn (Philip Morris International).

In May 2026, Imperial Brands announced the acquisition of Black Buffalo, folding it into its US next-generation products business. For Imperial, the deal added a differentiated oral-nicotine asset aimed squarely at the American dip market that pure pouch brands had not converted.