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Quality hard to match

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MATCHTEK® - the new standard

Production of matches demand advanced technology and great know-how. Quality is not a coincidence. At Swedish Match Industries we use our expertise, dating back to the 19th century, in everything we do. As the world’s most famous match manufacturer we are dedicated to providing quality products in a responsible manner – recognizing that product responsibility goes far beyond just delivering the products that the consumer desire. Our entire match manufacturing process breathes quality and safety – from the raw material log to the delivery of finished goods.

Assuring safe, high quality matches

Our aim is always to produce a match that is safe, reliable and environmentally friendly. Our consumers worldwide deserve high quality matches that will not ignite accidentally, break easily or lose fragments of the head at striking.

To fulfill this commitment, we have developed our own quality standard – the MATCHTEK® standard. MATCHTEK® is an extension of the existing European match standard EN 1783:1997 (Matches – Performance requirements, safety and classification). The focus is product performance, with quality demands that far exceed those in EN 1783:1997.

By complying with the MATCHTEK® standard, we make sure that our distributors and consumers can be confident that our matches have been through rigorous quality control. The MATCHTEK® standard assures that they are using safe, reliable and environmentally friendly matches. Our hope is that our MATCHTEK® standard will become a benchmark for the rest of the world to follow.

Quality matches – made of Swedish aspen

From a quality and safety perspective, the strength of the splint is crucial. We are working rigorously and proactively to ensure the highest possible splint strength in our matches.

To make sure that our splints hold the highest quality possible, we select the best raw materials available. In our splint production, we exclusively use Swedish aspen, a raw material that has proven outstandingly strong due to its long white fibers.

Matches of Swedish aspen are much more resistant to breakage compared to matches of other types of wood. To ensure a high splint strength, we conduct thorough and continuous testing of our matches. Our MATCHTEK® standard includes two new and unique test methods – levels of dynamic strength, and minimum average breaking strength. To meet these quality requirements, we perform extensive tests of the matches in our in-house laboratory.

The match head

Our match heads are characterized by their strength and reliability. In our test laboratory, we test striking and ignition performance daily in appliance with the MATCHTEK® standard. The matches shall, for example, ignite instantly and exhibit no fragmentation of the heads.

The MATCHTEK® requirements for striking and ignition performance goes far beyond those in EN 1783:1997. The requirements are also more customer oriented; in the new test method “hard strikes”, for instance, matches are struck with a higher pressure compared to EN 1783:1997.

Reliable striking under adverse conditions

Great matches must function under adverse conditions. To test our matches humidity resistance is a matter of course for us, and one of the tougher requirements in the MATCHTEK® standard. Tests like this are not customary in the industry today. We test the matches in our laboratory after having subjected them to at least 90 % RH (relative humidity) for three days.

Responsible manufacturing and chemical control

Our matches are since way back free from added Sulphur and heavy metals. Our competitors may even add chromium VI (Cr(VI)) to their match heads to improve the striking properties. Cr(VI) is a highly toxic and carcinogenic compound. The MATCHTEK® standards contains a threshold value for Cr(VI) content. In the MATCHTEK® standard strict threshold limits can also be found for the maximum content of rosin and boric acid. These compounds are often also deliberately added to the match head formulation by other manufacturers in order to improve the striking properties. Rosin is classified as an allergenic substance and boric acid is classified as possible carcinogenic. We are proud to produce a match that is free from these substances!