BAT Buys Dryft Pouch Business

British American Tobacco (BAT) has bought the nicotine pouch product assets of Dryft Sciences, a U.S.-based modern oral nicotine product company.

The acquisition expands BAT’s modern oral portfolio in the U.S. from four to 28 product variants. It follows the acceptance of Dryft’s recent pre-market tobacco product application submission for filing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The enhanced portfolio will include a wider range of nicotine strengths and flavors.

BAT will rebrand Dryft’s U.S. portfolio under its global modern oral brand, Velo, and expects to accelerate growth through superior distribution, marketing and channel capabilities.

“Today’s announcement underscores our societal commitment to accelerate our transformation and build ‘a better tomorrow’,” said BAT CEO Jack Bowles in a statement. “Our multi-category strategy is key to our transformation. The addition of Dryft to our U.S. Velo brand is a major step forward, further enhancing our successful vaping and oral portfolio.”

“We’re proud of the tremendous momentum we’ve built with Dryft and thrilled that our strong product portfolio will now serve to enhance the Velo brand,” said Jason Carignan, president of Dryft Sciences. “We remain confident that modern oral innovations like Dryft and Velo will continue to find an adult consumer base seeking alternatives to traditional products.”

According to BAT, the acquisition fits into its mission to reduce the health impact of its business. The company aims to accelerate the growth of its new category revenues at a faster rate than its total revenue, reaching £5 billion ($6.5 billion) in 2025. BAT wants to have 50 million consumers of non-combustibles worldwide by 2030.