News analysis for professionals in the alternative tobacco sector

Cigarettes for €0.10 a pack? Italian shops hit by vending-machine hack attack

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 6th April 2023

Italian tobacco associations estimate up to €250,000 in losses after hundreds of tobacco vending machines were the subject of a cyber-attack thought to be the work of anarchists ...

VLN maker ready to hand out the Cookies in tie-up with US cannabis company

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 6th April 2023

22nd Century Group, maker of the very low nicotine VLN brand cigarette, has announced a new three-year exclusive licence and distribution agreement with the US cannabis company Cookies ...

Altria unveils new products and new goals for its US smoke-free portfolio

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd April 2023

Altria will launch two new smoke-free products, a heated tobacco capsule called Swic and a new addition to its existing nicotine pouch brand, On! Plus, in a move to address a broader range of consumers...

New from T******Intelligence – your friendly artificial guide to everything!

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 1st April 2023

In line with our commitment to bring you the highest-quality analysis of the tobacco alternatives sector, today – 1st April – TobaccoIntelligence launches its new AI product, the Chat Personal Virtual Curator (ChatPVC) ...

Caffeine and cannabis pouches could be part of Altria's new growth strategy

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 31st March 2023

Altria is considering including cannabis as well as caffeine pouches in its offering of non-nicotine products as part of its growth strategy ...

Tensions rise as menthol ban left out of budget negotiations in New York

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 27th March 2023

As budget negotiations leave out the proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, tensions rise among lawmakers, public health advocates, and business organisations. Will the ban find its way back into legislation, or is this the end...

Models in ads for heated tobacco must both look and be over 25, UK ASA rules

Written by Freddie Dawson | 23rd March 2023

Companies dealing in tobacco products must be extremely careful with all age-related details when it comes to website illustrations and endorsements, a new UK ruling demonstrates ...

UK tax increases raise prices of tobacco, including heat-not-burn consumables

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st March 2023

UK consumers are facing a considerable hike in the price of all tobacco products following the Spring Budget outlined last week by chancellor (finance minister) Jeremy Hunt ...

FDA’s proposed product standards ‘will help the big boys by hurting small ones’

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 15th March 2023

Fears have been raised that new product standards proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be costly to implement and overly burdensome for smaller companies ...

22nd Century plans growth in the US and abroad despite overall losses in 2022

Written by Freddie Dawson | 10th March 2023

US-based 22nd Century believes it is set up for a bright future with further expansion of its VLN cigarette range into three new states and plans to be in 18 total by year’s end ...

Single regulatory agency to oversee nicotine and tobacco industries in Russia

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 9th March 2023

The Russian Ministry of Finance announced in February that it would submit a bill to the parliament this month to establish a single regulator for the alcohol, tobacco and nicotine industries ...

Finnish working group recommends tougher rules for all nicotine products

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 8th March 2023

Continuing tax increases, raising the age limit to 20, restrictions on imports, and further extensions of smoke-free environments are among ideas being considered in Finland for all tobacco-related products ...

Altria swaps its Juul stake for rights to a theoretical heated tobacco system

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 6th March 2023

Altria has swapped its 35% stake in Juul Labs for heated tobacco intellectual property rights, ending an investment which plummeted in value from $12.8bn to only $250m in just over four years ...

Europe taking on novel products as it aims for a ‘tobacco-free environment’

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 6th March 2023

A European Council recommendation due in the autumn will be “a recommendation for a tobacco-free environment, regardless of the form tobacco takes” ...

More challenges to EU heated tobacco flavour ban during wait for CJEU verdict

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 3rd March 2023

Tobacco companies wait for a judicial verdict on the validity of an EU directive outlawing heated tobacco flavours across Europe, but the ban has already come into effect ...

Big Tobacco remains in love with novelty as it heads towards a smokeless future

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd March 2023

The significance Big Tobacco companies are placing on novel tobacco products is demonstrated by the continued international expansion many are undertaking ...

EU lawmakers becoming less aware and less confident on novel nicotine products

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 2nd March 2023

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are less aware of key issues surrounding new nicotine products than in previous years and often less confident in their views, according to new research ...

Altria ‘in $2.75bn bid to buy e-cigarette maker Njoy’ while dropping Juul

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 28th February 2023

Altria is reported to be in advanced talks to buy e-cigarette company Njoy for around $2.75bn.No deal has been finalised, but an official announcement is possible by the end of the week ...

US tobacco regulator responds to critical report with promise of five-year plan

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 28th February 2023

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced its plans to address the recommendations put forward in a damning independent review of its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) ...

Tobacco control expert Farrelly faces a big job as science director at US CTP

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 22nd February 2023

The appointment of Matthew Farrelly as director of the Office of Science at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) comes at a potentially critical time for tobacco alternatives ...

Mexico’s ‘unconstitutional’ clampdown on tobacco use runs into a legal storm

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 21st February 2023

Members of Mexico’s tobacco, restaurant and retail industries say an executive order laying down new regulations for the tobacco industry is unconstitutional and will be brought down in court ...

Iqos accused as French campaign group calls for clampdown on ads and flavours

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 15th February 2023

A French anti-smoking group has called for a ban on non-tobacco flavours in all nicotine products as well as for the regulation of nicotine pouch advertising, while accusing PMI of flouting advertising rules ...

Proposed new EU packaging and waste rules evoke strong but mixed response

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 15th February 2023

The European Commission has issued a proposal for a revision of EU legislation on packaging and packaging waste, which could have profound long-term consequences for the tobacco alternatives industry ...

‘More to come’ from non-combustibles – JTI has money to heat-not-burn

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 14th February 2023

A growing share of the Japanese heated tobacco market and the launch of the Ploom X heat-not-burn (HnB) device in the UK contributed to Japan Tobacco International (JTI) posting positive figures for 2022 ...

PMI reports positive 2022 performance, talks Iqos, Swedish Match and KT&G

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 10th February 2023

Philip Morris International (PMI) reports an overall positive performance in 2022, boosted by growth in its Iqos business, with revenues and shipment volumes slightly up for the year ...

BAT delivers another Glo-ing report, with growth across all its novel categories

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 9th February 2023

British American Tobacco (BAT) enjoyed a 37% rise last year in revenues from novel products, with growing contributions across all three of its new categories, led by its brands Vuse, Velo and Glo Hyper ...

Finland to approve heated tobacco flavour ban, other EU countries to follow

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 6th February 2023

Finland is among the first EU countries to take concrete steps towards banning flavours for heated tobacco products. The Finnish parliament has approved the government’s proposal to add to the Finnish Tobacco Act the definition of heated tobacco...

PMI announces 15-year exclusive rights to sell KT&G smoke-free products

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 3rd February 2023

Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced its long-term exclusive rights to sell KT&G’s smoke-free products in more than 30 markets, excluding South Korea ...

Altria’s oral segment revenues slipped in 2022, but its On! pouches performed well

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 1st February 2023

US-based tobacco giant Altria’s net revenues in the oral tobacco segment fell slightly in 2022 despite its nicotine pouch brand On! reporting a positive performance ...

Indonesia’s tobacco regulation revision plan takes a long-awaited step forward

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 31st January 2023

After years of political debate, Indonesia is finally making progress towards regulating heated tobacco products. Because Indonesia considers heated tobacco to be a type of e-cigarette, e-cig rules apply ...

US FDA green-lights three new Philip Morris heated tobacco products for Iqos

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 27th January 2023

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the marketing of three new tobacco-flavoured heated tobacco products from Philip Morris Products’s supplemental PMTAs ...

Lawmakers in the Czech Republic look to regulate nicotine pouches in two acts

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 25th January 2023

The Czech Republic could extend regulations of tobacco products and e-cigarettes to nicotine pouches, put age restrictions on the sale of pouches, and regulate their composition, labelling, notification and other requirements ...

Morocco may be ready to place further limits on tobacco use and advertising

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 24th January 2023

Morocco is considering increasing possible fines for advertising tobacco alternatives, imposing restrictions on the public use of all tobacco products, and establishing a minimum purchase age ...

Ukrainian regulator takes legal action to investigate PMI’s advertising of Iqos

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 20th January 2023

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has taken a case against Philip Morris Sales and Distribution for violating unfair competition laws, the regulator announced earlier this month ...

VLN cigarette sales to spread across US through deals with major distributors

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 20th January 2023

US company 22nd Century Group has expanded the number of outlets for its low-nicotine cigarette VLN through partnerships with two convenience store distributors in the US ...

TJP aims to put its Canadian-made L!X nicotine pouches onto the US market

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 19th January 2023

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) from Canadian manufacturer TJP Labs for its L!X nicotine pouches ...

Roman court to settle battle over JTI's claim low-level menthol isn't a flavour

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 11th January 2023

An upcoming court ruling in Rome could help to determine whether a European Commission directive prohibiting the addition of a “characterising flavour” to conventional cigarettes is sufficiently clear ...

US survey reveals no post-pandemic bounce back in teenage nicotine use

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 5th January 2023

Nicotine use among US adolescents remained stable in 2022, after a significant decrease in 2020 and 2021, according to a national survey ...

Poll finds cannabis now twice as popular as tobacco smoking with young US adults

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 4th January 2023

Based on recently published Gallup data, more than twice as many young adults in the US say they smoke cannabis as smoke conventional cigarettes ...

A good year for Big Tobacco, alternatively speaking, while rules are tightened

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 30th December 2022

The year gone by saw phenomenal growth across the global market for tobacco alternatives, including in the oral segment, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches ...

Egypt’s former tobacco monopoly teams up with PMI for a future in alternatives

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 28th December 2022

Tobacco alternatives are beginning to flourish in Egypt and heated tobacco as well as vaping products are expected to become more important as Egyptian manufacturers start to get involved ...

Other tobacco giants may follow where PMI leads into the Baltic states

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 23rd December 2022

Global tobacco companies could be looking to the Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, for expansion after having had to cut operations in Ukraine and Russia ...

Measures are ‘being considered’, but no change is likely in Australian HnB policy

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 22nd December 2022

Australian authorities have not announced any change in policy on heated tobacco in the run-up to a new national tobacco plan. This has left the status of heat-not-burn (HnB) products unchanged ...

Doubts galore as Russia reconsiders all its tax options for tobacco alternatives

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 21st December 2022

In its latest move to regulate the market for tobacco alternatives, the Russian government is proposing to increase excise rates on heated tobacco sticks – but there are competing proposals ...

New Zealand’s world-leading phase-out of smoking won’t affect heated tobacco

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 20th December 2022

A new law preventing those now under the age of 14 from ever obtaining conventional cigarettes in New Zealand will have little impact on heated tobacco as it is not included in the ban ...

‘Overwhelmed, fatigued and upended’ – review diagnoses US CTP’s troubles

Written by Barnaby Page | 20th December 2022

The US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (FDA CTP) is “reactive and overwhelmed”, staff are “fatigued”, the industry and public health advocates are “frustrated”, and litigation has “upended” the CTP’s plans ...

BAT reports ‘sustainable growth’, over 3m new consumers in non-combustibles

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 19th December 2022

British American Tobacco (BAT) said its “new category” business continues to drive substantial volume, revenue, and market share growth – significantly contributing to the company’s overall performance ...

Botswana prepares to implement new ‘life-saving’ restrictions on tobacco

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 13th December 2022

Proposed tobacco regulations in Botswana that would restrict the sale and marketing of tobacco – including heated tobacco products – but leave vaping products unaffected have been hailed by public health experts ...

Italy’s new government reduces planned increases in heated tobacco taxation

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 8th December 2022

Excise duties on cigarettes in Italy will increase from 1st January, while those on heated tobacco and e-liquids will not rise at the rate previously laid out, under the new Italian government’s 2023 Budget Bill...

Anti-smoking group sues Health Canada while calling for a nicotine-free future

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 1st December 2022

An anti-smoking group is taking the Canadian government to court in a bid to force it to complete its review of the federal law governing tobacco and vaping products ...

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