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Primus AB is a manufacturer of portable cooking devices and outdoor stoves based in Stockholm, Sweden. On April 28, 2023, Fenix Outdoor International AG announced that it had sold Primus AB to Silva Group.^[1]

The firm was founded in 1892 by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist and Johan Viktor Svenson.

They were the developers of its initial product, the Primus stove, the first portable and soot-free kerosene stove. The first units were sold mainly to women who operated street market shops (stallholders) in Stockholm.

Explorers then discovered the value in having a portable stove for their expeditions. For example, on Salomon August Andrée’s 1897 North Pole expedition, he cooked on a Primus. Roald Amundsen carried a Primus stove with him on his venture to the South Pole in 1911. And in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay relied on Primus stoves during their first ascent of Mount Everest.

Today, Primus stoves and lanterns are sold in over 70 countries. The stoves are made in Primus' factory in Tartu, Estonia.

Until 2023, Primus AB belonged to Fenix Outdoor International AG, a company listed on the stock exchange in Stockholm that owns the following brands: Brunton (USA), Fjällräven (Sweden), Hanwag (Germany), Tierra (Sweden), Royal Robin (USA) as well as the retail chains Naturkompaniet (Sweden), Partioaitta (Finland) and Globetrotter (Germany). However, the company was acquired by Grupo Silva in April 2023.

Primus offers products for cooking, heating and lighting, although the focus is still on stoves. They make LPG (liquified petroleum gas) stoves for backpacking and camping, multi-burner camping stoves to high-end multifuel expedition stoves. Primus also produces lanterns, vacuum bottles and accessories such as cutlery, cookware and other camping equipment.

One of the most successful stoves in the Primus range is the OmniFuel. When introduced in 2001, it was the first stove to burn LPG, white gas, kerosene, jet fuel and even diesel. It has received awards from specialist outdoor and mountaineering magazines.

In 2007, Primus introduced its first Eta Power stoves. The Greek letter Eta stands for “efficiency” in physics. The Eta series consists of various cooking systems (burner, windshield, pots with heat exchanger) that increase fuel efficiency up to twice that of conventional stoves.

In 2012, Primus introduced the OmniLite stove, a lighter and more compact version of the OmniFuel, optimized for use with Eta Pots.

• Dauerbrenner: Die Primus-Story