Category: Smokeless

  • Vilosophy Launches Oils and Pouches

    Vilosophy Launches Oils and Pouches

    Photo: Vilosophy

    Vilosophy has launched V&YOU, a portfolio of premium products with “active” ingredients, in the United Kingdom.

    V&YOU products are available in four “vibes”—calm, chill, focus and boost. They include CBD oils and pouches, as well as nicotine pouches. According to Vilosophy, the V&YOU CBD and nicotine pouches provide a new, discreet and convenient way to consume either ingredient.

    V&YOU products adhere to the strictest quality standards and are sold an accessible price, according to the manufacturer.

    “We are excited that our first brand V&YOU will be one of the only producers of nicotine pouches in the U.K.,” says Vilosophy CEO Wouda Kuipers, who founded the company with Ged Shudall and Markus Bonke, two seasoned executives from the fast-moving consumer goods space.

    “Pouches are incredibly popular across Europe and we think people in the U.K. will find them a convenient way to take nicotine; they also provide longer lasting flavors,” adds Wouda Kuipers.

    “Vilosophy has been founded on the belief that people should be free to choose how they live their life and our aim is to develop a portfolio of lifestyle brands that bring premium active ingredients to market, in a way that is best for people,” he says.  

     

  • Snus Market Expected to Reach $1.7 Billion

    Snus Market Expected to Reach $1.7 Billion

    Photo: Swedish Match

    Estimated at $1.1 billion in 2020, the global market for snus is projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2027, according to a new report. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2 percent over the period.

    “Original,” one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 6.4 percent CAGR to $715.6 million by the end of the analysis period. After an early analysis of the business implications of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related economic crisis, the “fruit” segment is estimated to grow at 7.2 percent CAGR for the next seven-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 19.2 percent share of the global snus market.

    The snus market in the U. S. is estimated at $317.2 million in 2020. The country currently accounts for 28.9 percent of global snus sales. China’s snus market is forecast to reach an estimated market size of $309.5 million by 2027.

    Other noteworthy snus markets are Japan and Canada, forecast to grow at 3.4 percent and 5.6 percent respectively from 2020 to 2027. Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 4 percent CAGR while the rest of the European market (as defined in the study) will reach $309.5 million by 2027.

  • RAI Submits Applications for Velo Pouches

    RAI Submits Applications for Velo Pouches

    Photo: RAI

    Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) has submitted a group of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking orders authorizing the marketing of Velo pouches. A grant of these marketing orders would allow these products to remain on the market after FDA review.

    Velo is the group’s brand for modern oral products, designed to provide adult tobacco consumers with innovative alternatives to traditional combustible and smokeless tobacco products. A small, white pouch made with nicotine derived from tobacco but containing no tobacco leaf, Velo is placed between an adult tobacco consumer’s gum and lip. Unlike traditional dip, there is no need to spit the product and no lingering smell. The submitted group of applications includes varying nicotine strength levels and two flavors for Velo pouch products.

    As with prior PMTA submissions, these commercially-proprietary applications provide the FDA with product analyses, information on human health risks, and assessments showing that these Velo pouches are appropriate for the protection of public health—including assessments on users and nonusers of tobacco products.

    James Figlar (Photo: RAI)

    “Velo represents an innovative space for us to identify what adult tobacco consumers want next—thus submitting the final group of Velo brand PMTAs was a great next step to help ensure adult tobacco consumers have consumer-acceptable products available that provide them with lifestyle choices and varying nicotine levels that make sense,” said James Figlar, RAI’s executive vice president and head of scientific and regulatory affairs, in a statement. “As the FDA begins evaluation of our industry’s collective PMTAs after the Sept. 9 deadline, it is critical that our chief regulatory agency continues to enforce against illegally marketed tobacco products introduced after Aug. 8, 2016.”

    The PMTAs for Velo pouches are part of Reynolds’ ongoing submissions to the FDA seeking marketing orders following applications for Velo lozenges and Vuse Vibe, Ciro  and Solo electronic nicotine delivery systems. The PMTA process allows the FDA to evaluate whether these products should remain on the market as part of the FDA’s public health mission. While these applications include relative risk information, the marketing orders sought make no claims of modified risk.

  • Patents Granted for Sting-Free Snus

    Patents Granted for Sting-Free Snus

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The U.S. Patent Office has granted Sting Free AB a patent (US 15/255,163) for a technology that makes snus and other nicotine pouch products more accessible to adult consumers by eliminating the stinging sensation associated with their use.

    The European Patent Organization too intends to grant a patent covering 39 nations for the technology. Sting Free AB already holds the Swedish patent rights to this invention.

    The new technology, which was first covered by Tobacco Reporter in July 2017, comprises a pouch of which one side is impermeable to liquids. In addition to eliminating the stinging sensation commonly associated with many pouch products, the technology also allows manufacturers to enhance flavors, pH levels and nicotine release profiles. Products that can benefit from its technology include snus, moist snuff, tobacco-free nicotine pouches and CBD, according to Sting Free AB.

    Snus is considered less risky to health than smoking, and many tobacco users, particularly in Sweden, have used the product to reduce or eliminate their exposure to the harmful byproducts of combustion.

    Grand View Research expects smokeless tobacco products to generate $5.6 billion globally in 2020 and $22.2 billion by 2025. Because the stinging sensation is often cited as the No. 1 deterrent for new users of oral nicotine products, Sting Free AB believes its new technology could expand the addressable market of adult consumers considerably.

    Bengt Wiberg

    “We foresee that the already impressive market growth for pouched products containing nicotine will increase substantially when more manufacturers and brands adopt our sting free technology,” says Sting Free AB CEO Bengt Wiberg.

    The sting-free technology has already been successfully produced in a prototype series using unmodified industrial snus packaging machines. In 2017, the innovation received a Golden Leaf Award in the “Most exciting newcomer to the industry” category at the GTNF in New York City.

    Sting Free AB has a nonexclusive licensing agreement with Swedish Match, the world’s largest Swedish snus manufacturer and producer of the successful Zyn nicotine pouch. It has also signed pre-licensing agreements with several other manufacturers of snus and nicotine pouch products.

  • Out of the Bag

    Out of the Bag

    Photo: RAI

    Regulators are trying to catch up with the rapid growth of nicotine pouches.

    By Stefanie Rossel

    It’s a niche within a niche, but it’s growing quickly. An analysis published by 360marketupdates values the global market for nicotine pouches at $619.9 million and projects it to reach $12.97 billion by 2026. This translates into a whopping compound annual growth rate of 53.8 percent.

    The novel products have been rapidly adopted throughout Scandinavia and central and eastern Europe, according to Research and Markets. Nicotine pouches are the younger and “cleaner” siblings of Swedish snus, a pasteurized oral tobacco that has been around for some 200 years. Both products are discrete; consumers place them between their upper lip and gum where the nicotine and taste are then released. Snus and nicotine pouches are spit-free. After use, the pouch is disposed of in household trash.

    Unlike snus, however, nicotine pouches don’t contain tobacco; they are white, pre-portioned bags composed of nicotine applied to a carrier material, such as food-grade fillers. They come in a variety of nicotine strengths and flavors, including mint, coffee and fruit. There are even nicotine-free variants. Like snus, nicotine pouches offer considerable potential for tobacco harm reduction because consumption does not involve combustion. 

    With 9 percent of men and 11 percent of women using cigarettes in 2018, Sweden has by far the lowest smoking rate in the European Union (EU). This enviable situation is widely attributed to the popularity of snus in that country. Decades of scientific research have confirmed the product’s efficiency as a smoking-cessation tool. A study published in the Harm Reduction Journal in November 2019 called snus “a compelling harm reduction alternative to cigarettes.” Using snus is estimated to be between 90 percent and 95 percent safer than smoking cigarettes, which puts the product on par with e-cigarettes on the continuum of risk scale.

    Nevertheless, snus sales have been prohibited throughout the EU since 1992. (When Sweden became part of the EU in 1995, it negotiated an exemption from the ban.) Switzerland, a non-EU member, lifted its ban on snus last year. Following two unsuccessful legal challenges, the EU ban was again endorsed by the European Court of Justice in 2018.

    In recent years, international tobacco companies have started including snus in their portfolios either by purchasing existing players or by developing their own products. And then they started developing the nicotine pouch. By now, all leading global tobacco firms are represented in the category, and nicotine pouches have been eating into the share of traditional snus. In the first quarter of 2020, nicotine pouches accounted for 6.7 percent of Sweden’s snus market, up from 3.2 percent in 2019, according to Swedish Match. In Norway, a non-EU member with a snus tradition, pouches today account for 25.8 percent of the snus market, up from 15.3 percent in 2018.

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    All present

    Competition in the pouch segment has heated up significantly, and manufacturers are increasing production capacity for their “modern oral” products.

    It all started with the introduction of Zyn by Swedish Match, the world’s largest producer of snus in Sweden and a significant player in the U.S. market for smokeless products. In the first quarter of 2020, Zyn was sold in 13 countries outside of the U.S. and Scandinavia, including many EU member states, such as Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, the U.K. and the Czech Republic.

    Growth of Zyn has been so strong that Swedish Match CEO Lars Dahlgren spoke of a “transformational year” for the company, saying that the product had been the key driver of the company’s U.S. smoke-free sales in 2019. In the first quarter of 2020, Swedish Match sold almost 70 million cans of Zyn in the U.S., up from roughly 18 million cans in the same period a year earlier. Swedish Match also filed a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

    Demand for Zyn has been so strong that Swedish Match announced expansions of its U.S. production facility twice in short succession. Scheduled for completion in 2020, the fourth phase of expansion will increase capacity to more than 200 million cans per year.

    Swedish Match’s competitors have not been idle. By acquiring an 80 percent stake in the global business of Burger Soehne, Altria in June 2019 became the owner of the On! nicotine pouch brand. Altria will provide global distribution for On!, which currently is available at retail outlets in the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Japan as well as globally through the company’s online shop. On! comes in seven flavors, including coffee, berry and citrus, and five different nicotine strengths. In May 2020, Altria submitted a PMTA for 35 On! products to the FDA.

    British American Tobacco (BAT) is represented in the nicotine pouch market through its Lyft brand, which it sells in the U.K., Sweden and Kenya. Going forward, BAT plans to market all its modern oral products under the name Velo—the brand under which BAT subsidiary Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) has been marketing its nicotine pouch product in the U.S. since June 2019.

    To cater to the anticipated increase in demand, BAT in September 2020 built a nicotine pouch factory in Hungary. The investment, estimated at more than HUF7.5 billion ($24.3 million), the investment aims to boost production to more than 1 billion nicotine pouches in 2020, a figure that is expected to triple next year. Initially equipped with one line for the manufacture of nicotine pouches, the factory is supposed to receive a further five production lines by the end of this year. Its output is destined mainly for European markets, including Germany, Austria and the Nordic countries. The Hungarian factory is supposed to become one of BAT’s global hubs for the manufacturing of oral products.

    In June last year, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) entered the race with Nordic Spirit, nicotine pouches that were developed in Sweden and sold in Switzerland and Sweden and online. Upon the launch, the company had said it intends to significantly increase distribution across various trade channels in the near term. Nordic Spirit is currently available in four flavors, including mint and bergamot wild berry.

    Imperial Brands is present in the modern oral nicotine market with Zone X, Killa, BLCK and Pablo, among other products. With a high nicotine content of 50 mg per gram, Pablo is the “strongest” nicotine pouch in the market. Usually, nicotine content in the novel products vary between 2 mg and 24 mg per gram.

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    Product regulation

    In the U.S., tobacco-free nicotine pouches are required to carry the warning “This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical,” and may be sold only to consumers over 21 years of age. Entry barriers are low compared to those for other tobacco products, but the product is subject to FDA regulation all the same. By contrast, the market for nicotine pouches in the EU currently operates in a regulatory vacuum. Containing no tobacco, the products are not covered by the EU Tobacco Product Directive (TPD2) nor do they belong to any other regulated product category. Unlike tobacco products, they may be advertised on television, radio and billboards throughout the common market.

    Christofer Fjellner, who served as a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019, expects new regulation to be adopted in all important markets in the coming years. In a report published in April 2020, he writes that Sweden and Norway will likely be the first countries to enact regulations for nicotine pouches—a development that could also influence how other European governments will shape legislation. For the time being, Sweden has decided that nicotine pouches are not a food product thereby indirectly approving the product to be placed on the market.

    The country has started defining and categorizing nicotine pouches; its government has tasked a special commissioner with proposing new regulation. Meanwhile, Austria’s chemical authority is referring to the EU’s classification, labeling and packaging regulation, demanding that all nicotine-laced product carry health warning texts and symbols.

    The World Health Organization has yet to take up the topic of nicotine pouches, according to Fjellner. He expects to receive an indication of how the European Commission views nicotine pouches in the implementation report for TPD3, scheduled for May 2021.

    “How the EU chooses to regulate nicotine pouches is influenced by at least three factors,” he says. “Whether EU member states call on the EU to ban nicotine pouches, due to concern about the use of the product in member states—which was the reason for EU ban on snus—whether there are already specific product regulations or national bans in individual member states that new European legislation may be in conflict with, and the number of users of nicotine pouches, and thus a public opinion critical to a new restrictive legislation or ban.”

    The latter, he adds, was one of the reasons e-cigarettes were not banned in the 2014 TPD revision. The way the EU regulated e-cigarettes in 2014, Fjellner says, could be an indicator of how it will likely deal with nicotine pouches, which would indicate a focus on warning texts and the introduction of a maximum nicotine level. For advocates of tobacco harm reduction, such an approach would be preferable over an outright ban.

    Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.
  • U.S. Modern Oral Sales up in August

    U.S. Modern Oral Sales up in August

    Photo: Swedish Match

    According to a tobacco analysis report from New York-based Cowen, based on Nielsen data, modern oral dollar sales were up 165.6 percent year to year.for the four weeks ending on Aug 8, compared to 179.7 percent in the last 12 weeks. The report added that volumes were up 216.8 percent year to year for the four-week period and 238.6 percent compared to last year for the last 12 weeks.

    The top-selling modern oral brand is Swedish Match’s Zyn smokeless nicotine pouches, up 6.4 percent in dollar sales and 1.1 percent in volume share, followed by Altria’s On and R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Velo modern oral brands.

    The report also noted that cigarette volume was down 2.1 percent compared to last year for the four weeks ending on Aug 8, while vapor product sales fell by 15.9 percent.

    As reported in Tobacco Reporter‘s July issue, nicotine pouches are starting to catch on in a variety of markets.

  • R.J. Reynolds Launches Velo Nicotine Lozenges

    R.J. Reynolds Launches Velo Nicotine Lozenges

    Photo: RJRVC

    R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (RJRVC) is expanding its modern oral portfolio with Velo dissolvable nicotine lozenges.

    A leading modern oral nicotine brand globally, Velo-branded products in the United States are designed to provide adult tobacco consumers with innovative, enjoyable alternatives to traditional combustible and smokeless tobacco.

    RJRVC says the decision to offer Velo nicotine lozenges reflects the company’s commitment to meeting adult nicotine consumers’ changing preferences and desire for convenience, simplicity and choice.

    “We are pleased to expand the Velo product portfolio to better provide adult nicotine consumers with a range of sensorial, modern oral nicotine options,” said Shay Mustafa, senior vice president for modern oral at RJRVC. “Bringing Velo nicotine lozenges to our portfolio reiterates our commitment to empower consumer choice and to provide adult nicotine consumers with products that fit modern lifestyles.”

    Velo-branded dissolvable nicotine lozenges are currently available for adult nicotine consumers to responsibly purchase at select retailers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbus, Houston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia and online at www.velo.com.

    In addition to dissolvable hard and soft format lozenges in four flavors, Velo offers adult nicotine consumers disposable nicotine pouches in varying strengths and flavors.

  • No Baggage

    No Baggage

    Photo: Swedish Match

    Unburdened by the legacy of traditional tobacco products, nicotine pouches are starting to catch on in a variety of markets.

    By George Gay

    Having been asked to look into whether interest in and sales of nicotine pouches have increased in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have to own up to failure. In my own defense, however, I would suggest that the consumer buzz around these novel products had been getting louder from well before the onset of the virus and that any additional interest caused by the pandemic would probably have been difficult to discern against that background noise.

    Having said that, I did find some evidence of increased interest in nicotine pouches brought on, at least in part, by the pandemic. Jason Carignan, president of Dryft Sciences, which offers its Dryft brand of nicotine pouches in the U.S., made some interesting observations about the way that nicotine users had been reacting in the face of Covid-19 and how they might respond in the future. “Consumers are responding well to Dryft’s convenience, simplicity and functionality at a time when wearing masks is more prevalent and remaining indoors is required,” he said as part of a statement issued in response to a number of questions posed by TR. “Online subscriptions are increasingly attractive with deliver-by-mail options, and we’re receiving positive feedback about our different flavors and strengths, as well.

    “We are seeing new consumers arrive at Dryft with a desire to choose nicotine without toxins that accompany combustion—yes, that is true. But those consumers are also rethinking how nicotine is viewed in public health circles. They’re seeking fact-based discussion and research. They expect us to be responsive to their feedback. And they want the freedom to responsibly choose from alternatives in a future state that presents completely new nicotine products.”

    The Dryft nicotine pouch has been well-received in the marketplace, according to its manufacturer. (Photo: Dryft Sciences)

    Don’t inhale

    Aside from these remarks, I think there is a robust, common-sense argument to be made for why interest in nicotine pouches might have increased since the start of the pandemic. The initial information made public about Covid-19 concentrated on how the disease attacked the lungs, and so it wouldn’t have been unreasonable for cigarette smokers to have been concerned that their habit might exacerbate the damage done to their health should they contract Covid-19; this might well have led them to cast about for a form of tobacco/nicotine consumption that did not pose the same level of risk as smoking does.

    So where would they have headed? Well, I think that most reasonable people would conclude that vaping is hugely less risky than smoking is, but one of the current stumbling blocks here is that vaping too involves inhalation, albeit that in this case the inhalation avoids the toxic products of pyrolysis consumed in smoking. Add to this the fact that most smokers have been exposed to a cacophony of anti-vaping propaganda put out in many cases by people who should know better, and it is probably the case that smokers would look elsewhere for relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.

    And what better product than a no-burn, no-inhalation one whose low-risk credentials are backed by a comprehensive body of evidence stretching back decades? The problem here, however, is that snus, for all its advantages, comes with baggage acquired over its long history. It is beset by a back catalogue of negative health-risk reports that, while they might have been disproven, continue to weigh it down and hold it back.

    Which brings the smoker to nicotine pouches. These oral products, which contain no tobacco, are new enough not to carry such health-risk baggage and, indeed, it is difficult—but, alas, not impossible—to see where even those with an obsessive interest in stopping people enjoying tobacco or nicotine products could find fault. For instance, Swedish Match’s popular Zyn brand comprises only pharmaceutical-grade nicotine salt along with food-grade ingredients, a type of formulation found in at least some brands made by other manufacturers, according to the company. And whereas the health risk of even food-grade flavors can be brought into question when such flavors are inhaled in smoke or vapor, the consumption of food-grade flavors in nicotine pouches is obviously not open to the same questions.

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    No virgins

    Of course, manufacturers of tobacco/nicotine products can always be accused of adding flavors to attract young people to their products, but a poll by Ipsos Sweden on behalf of Swedish Match seems to indicate that nicotine pouches are adult products, at least in Sweden, to which the poll was confined. According to the results of the poll, 70 percent of nicotine pouch users are between the ages of 26 and 55—or, as a teenager might put it, between old and ancient. Importantly, too, when it comes to gateway issues, the Ipsos poll throws up evidence that nicotine pouches provide a gateway out of traditional tobacco use. While there is a low level of dual cigarette-and-pouch use, there is a high level of previous cigarette use among pouch users. Only 7 percent of nicotine pouch users have never used a nicotine product before taking up pouch use, and most nicotine pouch users consume only pouches while 14 percent use both pouches and snus, and 9 percent use both pouches and cigarettes.

    Dual use often gets bad press, but it can provide an important part in a smoker’s transitioning away from cigarettes or in providing needed relief when she finds herself in a position where she cannot indulge her usual habit. Spokesperson Deborah Perez said that JTI saw its nicotine pouch brand, Nordic Spirit, as responding “to the evolving preferences of adult tobacco and nicotine consumers who are looking for a convenient product that can be used in situations where smoking or vaping is not possible.” And in an email response to TR questions, Imperial Brands, which recently added its nicotine pouch product, ZoneX, to its “asset brands” category, said that it was “assessing opportunities in OND [oral nicotine delivery] as consumers increasingly adopt a multi-category approach to nicotine.”

    To keep up with demand for its Zyn brand, Swedish Match recently expanded its Owensboro, Kentucky, USA, production facility by 16,000 square feet. (Photo: Swedish Match)

    A smaller footprint

    Meanwhile, the Ipsos poll results indicate that 55 percent of pouch users have a university education, and 80 percent are either employed or run their own company. And they also indicated that pouch consumers, who are more likely to live in urban rather than rural areas, consider themselves to be health conscious and believe it is important that the products they buy have only a small impact on the environment.

    Certainly, nicotine pouches seem to be able to lay claim to having a small environmental footprint when compared with other tobacco/nicotine products, and, indeed, some other consumer products. But while their environmental credentials are important, their attraction is also visceral. Perez said that JTI’s pouch brand, Nordic Spirit, provided “a steady, long-lasting nicotine delivery.” Nicotine contents range from 9 mg/g for Nordic Spirit Spearmint Intense to 14 mg/g for Nordic Spirit Elderflower, Nordic Spirit Berry Citrus and Nordic Spirit Smooth Mint and 17mg/g for Nordic Spirit Spearmint Intense Strong.

    In fact, the attraction of nicotine pouches is both visceral and practical. In the U.K. at least, where retail cigarette prices are high, nicotine pouches seem to be well ahead in the price stakes. According to Perez, Nordic Spirit sells there for £6.50 ($8.15) for a pack of 20 whereas, according to U.K. government figures, the average price of a pack of 20 king-size cigarettes is £11.10.

    Given all of the above, it’s not surprising that, just over a year ago in the U.S., Swedish Match went national with Zyn, which it had launched there in 2015; nor that it opened a 16,000-square-foot addition to its production facility in Owensboro, Kentucky, to provide additional capacity to deal with the demand for this brand.

    Perez, meanwhile, was able to report that Nordic Spirit, which was developed in Sweden and launched in 2018, has rapidly grown market share and is now available in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. “While the tobacco-free nicotine pouches category is still in its infancy, we expect that many adult tobacco and nicotine consumers globally will be interested in trying the product, helping the new category to grow significantly over the coming years,” she said.

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    But perhaps one of the strongest indications that manufacturers have confidence in the nicotine pouch category came with the announcement by Altria in the middle of May that it had submitted “premarket tobacco product applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for 35 On! products on behalf of Helix Innovations, an Altria joint venture responsible for manufacturing and selling On! nicotine pouches globally.”

    “On! products, in seven flavors and five nicotine levels, offer the broadest portfolio of choices in the fast-growing nicotine pouch category for adult tobacco consumers seeking alternatives to traditional tobacco products,” Altria said in its May announcement, which quoted Paige Magness, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for Altria Client Services. “On! nicotine pouches are a key part of our vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a noncombustible future,” said Magness. “We believe the supporting science is strong and are committed to working with the agency on these important product submissions.”

    It seems reasonable to assume that no manufacturer, no matter how deep its products, would enter the labyrinthine caves of the FDA’s application processes unless it was confident the products it was submitting for review were almost assured of consumer acceptance and market success—or unless it were accompanied by Theseus, of course.

    George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.
  • FDA to Review Altria Nicotine Pouches

    FDA to Review Altria Nicotine Pouches

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and filed for substantive review premarket tobacco product applications for 35 On! products manufactured by Helix Innovations, an Altria joint venture.

    To support these applications, Altria submitted more than 66,000 pages of documentation, including six primary studies.

    “We believe the scientific evidence in these applications demonstrates that the marketing of On! is appropriate for the protection of public health,” said Paige Magness, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for Altria Client Services. “On! nicotine pouches are a key part of our vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a noncombustible future.”

    On! nicotine pouches are tobacco-leaf-free and are available in seven flavors and five nicotine levels. In the fast-growing nicotine pouch category, On! currently offers the broadest portfolio of choices for adult tobacco consumers seeking alternatives to traditional tobacco products, according to Altria.

    On! was distributed in more than 28,000 stores at the end of the first quarter, including the top five U.S. convenience store chains by volume. According to IRI, total oral tobacco derived nicotine category sales in 2019 grew approximately 275 percent compared to 2018.

  • Lawmakers Push for ‘Nicotine Pack’ Tax

    Lawmakers Push for ‘Nicotine Pack’ Tax

    Russian lawmakers want to start taxing orally consumed nontobacco nicotine products (“nicotine packs”).

    A bill that aims to impose an excise duty on such products has been submitted to Russia’s government for review.

    Because nicotine packs are a viable alternative to smoking, they should be subjected to state control, argues the bill’s author, Sergey Katasonov, who also serves as first deputy chair of the State Duma committee on budget and taxes.

    Katasonov noted that authorities across the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a prominent member, have already started asserting control over new nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn (HNB) products.

    At present, the State Duma public health committee is studying a bill envisaging massive changes to Russia’s tobacco legislation. Among other amendments, the bill seeks to treat e-cigarettes and HNB devices like traditional tobacco products.