Big tobacco may be scrambling to grab a hold of the e-cigarettes market, but there’s a little-known 700-year old tobacco product from Europe that’s also seen as having big potential, NCBC said in a report about Swedish snus.

Swedish snus, a tobacco product that you consume by placing it under the lip, is banned in all EU countries except Sweden. It has gained a lot of popularity in the US owing to new no smoking laws that have come to effect all over country.

However, the Swedish market is growing amid fierce competition from rival brands, according to Citigroup analyst Adam Spielman, who told CNBC that demand is growing in the United States too.

“We do recognize the U.S. snus business is an important investment consideration, and it could turn into quite a positive,” Spielman said in a note.

Tobacco giants R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris have launched Marlboro and Camel snus. The US market is also of growing importance for Swedish smokeless tobacco maker Swedish Match.

Today smoking rate in the US is half of what it was 40 years ago. As cigarette sales plunge, tobacco companies are marketing smokeless products to keep customers.

Chad Jones, a U.S.-based snus user and blogger for Snubie.com, a website devoted to smokeless tobacco, told CNBC via email that he has witnessed growth in popularity with more retail outlets offering the product in his local area.

“I was looking for a way to quit smoking and discovered snus…what drew me in was how discreet snus was and the lack of dangerous health risks that other forms of tobacco carry. As a new parent, I also didn’t want to expose my daughter to any of the second-hand effects of smoking, and I no longer wanted to subject myself to the effects and risks of cigarettes either,” he wrote.

Swedish nicotine addiction expert Dr Karl Fagerström stated that snus is 90-99 percent less harmful than smoking.