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  • Ultra Raises $11M Series A to Scale Nicotine-Free Functional Pouches

    Ultra Raises $11M Series A to Scale Nicotine-Free Functional Pouches

    Ultra announced it has closed an $11 million series A funding round to expand product development, distribution, and team growth. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from CPG founders from Harry’s, Grüns, and Rockstar Energy, as well as celebrity athletes including Joe Burrow, Lindsey Vonn, and Dak Prescott. Launched in May 2025, the “nicotine-free functional pouch brand designed for clean, sustained focus” sold 1 million cans in its first six months.

    The pouches, formulated with paraxanthine (via Enfinity) and other functional ingredients like L-theanine, Alpha GPC, B vitamins, and ginseng, offer a discreet, guilt-free alternative for focus without nicotine or caffeine. Ultra appeals both to those stepping down from nicotine products and to new users seeking functional “focus rituals.” CEO Eric Drymer said the brand was built to deliver clean, healthy cognitive support, while Left Lane Capital’s Harley Miller highlighted the company’s role in defining functional pouches at scale. Proceeds from the funding will support U.S. hiring, retail expansion, and product roadmap development.

  • Pakistan’s Pouch Market Reshaping Tobacco Landscape

    Pakistan’s Pouch Market Reshaping Tobacco Landscape

    With a smoking rate of 19.5% and high instances of smoking-related illnesses, Pakistan is beginning to embrace the shift to lower-risk alternative products, including a quickly expanding nicotine pouch market that is not only good news for health advocates but is creating business opportunities as well.

    Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited recently began local production of ZYN at its Sahiwal facility, following British American Tobacco’s early entrance with Velo in 2019, solidifying Pakistan as a key growth market for modern oral nicotine products. Industry momentum is being driven by strong demand from adult tobacco users seeking alternatives to cigarettes and traditional oral products such as paan, naswar, and gutka. A recent LMIC case study cited Pakistan as having the world’s largest consumer base for nicotine pouches, noting toxicant levels far lower than in conventional oral tobacco.

    Local production is boosting jobs, tax revenue, and regulatory oversight, but authorities are expected to weigh stricter age controls, product standards, and monitoring as the category scales.

  • Imperial Canada Urges Action as Illicit Pouch Surge

    Imperial Canada Urges Action as Illicit Pouch Surge

    Imperial Tobacco Canada called on the federal government to act quickly against a growing illicit market for nicotine pouches, following a CBC investigation that found widespread illegal sales in stores and online. The company says a recent Ministerial Order requiring legal pouches to be kept behind pharmacy counters has backfired by pushing consumers toward unregulated, higher-nicotine products sold without age checks.

    “By restricting access to regulated products, the policy has driven consumers straight toward unmonitored, illegal alternatives,” said Eric Gagnon, Imperial’s vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs. He warned that these illicit pouches often lack quality controls and pose risks to public health, especially for youth.

    Imperial echoed public health expert David Hammond’s call for stronger enforcement, including proactive retail inspections, but said enforcement alone is insufficient. The company argues that allowing approved cessation products to be sold in convenience stores and gas stations—where adult smokers already shop—would help cut demand for illegal alternatives. Imperial’s ZONNIC, the only pouch authorized by Health Canada, is limited to 4 mg of nicotine and must meet strict standards, unlike the illicit products now proliferating across the market.

  • New Indonesian Factory Fuels KT&G’s Expansion

    New Indonesian Factory Fuels KT&G’s Expansion

    KT&G told Hankooki.com today (November 12) that its Indonesian factory is scheduled to be completed within the month and should begin full-scale operations in February 2026. The 190,000-square-meter facility, which will produce cigarettes and capsule products for export across Southeast Asia and beyond, is expected to boost KT&G’s annual production capacity in Indonesia to 35 billion cigarettes, making it the company’s largest overseas manufacturing base.

    The move follows the launch of KT&G’s Kazakhstan plant in April, which can produce 4.5 billion cigarettes annually and serves as a key export hub for the Eurasian market. With both sites operational, KT&G aims to produce over half of its total output overseas in the medium to long term, improving global supply efficiency.

    The company also plans to expand into new markets like Jordan and Bangladesh, while growing its next-generation product (NGP) segment and nicotine pouch business through a strategic partnership and joint acquisition with Altria.

  • Turning Point Reports Record Q3 2025

    Turning Point Reports Record Q3 2025

    Turning Point Brands, Inc. reported Q3 2025 net sales up 31.2% year-over-year to $119 million, driven by strong performance in its Modern Oral segment, which surged 627.6% to $36.7 million, now representing 31% of total sales. Adjusted EBITDA rose 17.2% to $31.3 million, and net income jumped 70.3% to $21.1 million. The company raised its 2025 Adjusted EBITDA outlook to $115–120 million (from $110–114 million) and increased Modern Oral sales guidance to $125–130 million (from $100–110 million).

    CEO Graham Purdy said the results “exceeded expectations,” highlighting the strong growth of Modern Oral products and progress toward qualifying U.S. white pouch production lines by early 2026. The Stoker’s segment grew 80.8% to $74.8 million, while the Zig-Zag segment declined 10.5% to $44.2 million. TPB ended the quarter with $201 million in cash and $267.8 million in total liquidity.

  • Haypp Reports Q3 2025 Results Amid U.S. Expansion Investments

    Haypp Reports Q3 2025 Results Amid U.S. Expansion Investments

    Haypp reported Q3 2025 net sales of SEK 952.1 million ($95.2 million), an 0.8% increase, driven by strong performance in nicotine pouches, which accounted for 68% of total oral nicotine volume with like-for-like (LFL) volume growth of 21% (LFL excludes the impact of the ZYN shortage, U.S. state closures, and tobacco sales discontinuations.) Gross margin rose to 18.8%, while adjusted EBITDA reached SEK 53.0 million ($5.3 million) and adjusted EBIT was SEK 33.4 million ($3.3 million). Operating profit fell to SEK 6.2 million ($620,000) and net profit to SEK 4.5 million, reflecting a SEK 17.2 million ($1.7 million) litigation settlement.

    Key developments included the return of ZYN to the U.S. market, early indicators of strong sales, and continued growth in Swedish and German vaping and heated tobacco products, which now make up over 70% of Haypp’s Emerging segment. UK nicotine vaping and HnB sales will be discontinued in Q4 2025 pending regulatory clarity.

    “[The] U.S. return of Zyn, U.S. market developments and gross margin expansion strengthen our foundation for growth,” said Gavin O’Dowd, Haypp president and CEO. “The benefits of Zyn’s return will be realized in Q4 2025 with promising early indicators.”

    Haypp also completed most of its global e-commerce platform migration, improving infrastructure for agile growth. CEO Gavin O’Dowd emphasized that U.S. market developments, innovative product availability, and gross margin expansion are strengthening the company’s foundation for future growth.

  • Sesh Secures $40M to Accelerate U.S. Growth

    Sesh Secures $40M to Accelerate U.S. Growth

    Sesh, an Austin-based, tobacco-free nicotine pouch maker, says it has raised more than $40 million in funding to scale its U.S. business. The financing round, led by 8VC and Jack Link’s CEO Troy Link, included participation from Electric Feel Ventures and a slate of investors spanning retail, entertainment, and manufacturing, including Post Malone, Diplo, and Zac Brown.

    Launched in 2020, Sesh has rapidly expanded into major national retailers such as Buc-ee’s, Sheetz, Quiktrip, AMPM, Circle K West, and Pilot. The company says it is anchored by a patented, pH-balanced formulation from Thomas Ericsson, inventor of Zyn, and that its Ohio-made pouches incorporate MCT oil to enhance mouthfeel and address dryness concerns common in the category.

    “We’re really trying to raise the standard in nicotine,” said founder and CEO Max Cunningham. “It’s important for emerging brands like Sesh to exist in the category, and for it not to be just dominated by Big Tobacco.”

    Cunningham told Fortune magazine the company has 30 full-time employees, availability in more than 5,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada, and is on track to grow 5,000% year over year. “We’re building for the long term,” he said. “This is about quality, trust, and building a nicotine brand that reflects where the market is going — not where it’s been.”

    A PMTA for the 72 Sesh SKUs has been accepted and under review by FDA since 2023.

  • Nicotine Pouch Use Surges as Cannabis, Vaping Hit Record Highs in U.S.

    Nicotine Pouch Use Surges as Cannabis, Vaping Hit Record Highs in U.S.

    Use of nicotine pouches among U.S. adults has doubled in the past year, while cannabis consumption, vaping, and psychedelic drug use remain at or near record highs, according to the University of Michigan’s latest Monitoring the Future Panel survey.

    The 2024 survey, based on data from over 20,000 adults, found 9.5% of 19–30-year-olds used nicotine pouches in the past year, up sharply since the measure was first tracked in 2023. Cannabis use and daily vaping of both cannabis and nicotine reached historic highs across all adult age groups, with midlife users (35–50) reporting the steepest growth over the past decade.

    Researchers warned that the findings reflect shifting substance-use patterns and urged continued monitoring to inform public health priorities.

  • New Technology for Nicotine Pouches May Improve Oral Health

    New Technology for Nicotine Pouches May Improve Oral Health

    A new study suggests damage to the gums and oral lining caused by products like nicotine pouches or snus may be reversed by switching to a new, gum-protective technology. A team of researchers from universities and dental clinics in Sweden, Poland, Indonesia, Moldova, and the UK—with support from the Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) in Catania—published the results of their pilot study in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica.

    Twenty-three Swedish dentists, all regular users of snus or nicotine pouches, participated in the five-week observational study. The participants switched exclusively to using a new technology nicotine pouch featuring a plant-based inner barrier, designed to protect sensitive tissues in the mouth by reducing direct contact with the gums and the oral mucosa from the contents of the pouch. Self-reported oral health status and photographic documentation of their oral conditions were noted before and after the study.

    The prevalence of self-reported snus lesions decreased from 95.7% to 69.6%. The severity of these lesions also decreased by 52%, with 39% of moderate-to-severe lesions completely disappearing by the end of the study. Self-reported cases of gingivitis (gum inflammation) were eliminated, and gingival irritation decreased by 90%.

    “Not all nicotine pouches are created equal. This is a positive step forward for tobacco harm reduction,” said Prof. Riccardo Polosa, founder of CoEHAR. “This development marks real progress in tobacco harm reduction. By engineering products that minimize risk and help smokers quit, we achieve an unequivocal win for public health.”

    The findings support the idea that technological innovation can make nicotine products less harmful, especially for adults seeking alternatives to smoking.

  • N.Y. Lawmakers Want to Ban Zyn for its Flavors

    N.Y. Lawmakers Want to Ban Zyn for its Flavors

    New York lawmakers have introduced a bill in the legislature that would ban flavored oral nicotine pouches such as Zyn, which recently received FDA approval. The pouches do not contain tobacco and are the fastest-growing product on the U.S. tobacco market, but lawmakers are comparing their flavors to flavored vape cartridges that were banned in the state in 2020 because they are attractive to children.

    “You always have to keep on top of this industry,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who is sponsoring the bill. “Because as we extinguish some of the availability to youth in particular, the industry comes up with more ways to entice people to be addicted to nicotine and their products.”

    The legislation — which is sponsored in the Senate by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal — asserts that minors could turn to nicotine pouches as flavored vapes become harder to find under New York’s ban.

    Zyn is manufactured by Swedish Match, a subsidiary of Philip Morris International, which maintains that Zyn is intended and marketed only for those 21 and older, and that the vast majority of Zyn’s clientele are not new nicotine users, but adults switching to a safer delivery method.

    “Almost everyone has come from another product,” Brian Erkkila, Swedish Match’s director of regulatory science, said. “That’s who the product is designed for. If you think about the flavors our product comes in, they come in flavors that have been in smokeless tobacco products like moist snuff and dip, for decades. These aren’t new flavors. They’ve been around for a long time.”

    Alan Mathios, a professor at Cornell University who studies the economics of tobacco regulation, called the potential ban shortsighted and said it could lead to the proliferation of illicit products, make the market more difficult to regulate, and have the opposite result in terms of keeping them away from underage users.

    “A lot of menthol smokers really like their menthol,” Mathios said. “If they don’t have an alternative menthol product, they’re unlikely to move away from cigarettes. So even if you do see some youth movement into menthol-flavored pouches, you have to weigh that against the role that menthol-flavored products play in helping adults switch.”