Dissolvable tobacco products on hold

While R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is to keep offering for sale its dissolvable tobacco products, they are not going to be made available outside of the limited markets to which they are currently confined, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.

After spending more than four and a half years in five test markets, the products (a pellet called Camel Orbs, a twisted stick the size of a toothpick called Camel Sticks,  and a film strip for the tongue called Camel Strips) have struggled to gain consumer traction.

By comparison, Reynolds needed just two and a half years, from April 2006 to October 2008, to take its Camel Snus products from test markets to national distribution.

The dissolvable products remain in limited distribution in Charlotte and Denver and are marketed through Reynolds’ age-verified consumer website at www.cameldissolvables.com.

However, Reynolds spokesman Richard Smith was quoted as saying there were no plans for marketing beyond these channels.

“We’ve found in our conversations with adult tobacco consumers that while there’s strong interest in the category, a different product form may present a better option over the long term,” he said.