News analysis for professionals in the alternative tobacco sector

Haypp backs EU tax directive amid strong growth in nicotine pouch sales in H1 2025

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 8th August 2025

Haypp Group, an e-commerce player specialising in nicotine pouches and snus, closed the first half of the year with growing performance driven by the nicotine pouch segment ...

EU Commission on course to review Tobacco Products Directive by Q2 2026

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 7th August 2025

The European Commission is on track to review the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Advertising Directive after several delays, TobaccoIntelligence understands from sources close to the Commission ...

WHO to challenge the tobacco industry’s ‘harm reduction’ narrative at COP11 talks

Written by Freddie Dawson | 7th August 2025

Harm reduction as a concept is squarely in the sights of the World Health Organization’s (WHO)’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) at its upcoming 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) ...

EU TED revision: pouches could be hit hardest among nicotine alternatives

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 6th August 2025

While the EU’s proposed revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) aims to harmonise taxation across EU member states, its projected impacts vary widely among product categories ...

JTI posts heated tobacco gains in first half of 2025, Ploom Aura set to expand abroad

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 31st July 2025

Japan Tobacco International reported a solid performance in the first half of 2025, boosted by the ongoing growth of its heated tobacco segment as well as the contribution of Vector Group, acquired last year ...

Velo Plus powers BAT’s modern oral growth despite dip in overall revenue

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 31st July 2025

British American Tobacco reported a slight decrease in its revenue for the first half of 2025, offset by strong growth in the modern oral segment. Velo Plus contributed to growth momentum, particularly in the US...

Altria’s oral tobacco growth softens impact of broader declines in H1 2025

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 30th July 2025

Altria reported a mixed first half of 2025, with overall declines tempered by the strong performance of its oral tobacco products segment – a substantial driver of growth in the second quarter ...

Legal challenges keep US OSH alive while public health experts debate what’s next

Written by Freddie Dawson | 25th July 2025

Talk of the US Office on Smoking and Health’s demise may have been premature, as its employee dismissals have been held up by lawsuits. But what would a post-OSH world look like? ...

Egypt increases cigarette taxes again, ignoring HTPs and stirring up debate

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 24th July 2025

Egypt has intensified its tobacco taxation policy with yet another cigarette price hike, sparking concerns among some officials that the tax amendment fails to address e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products ...

Accelerated growth in Iqos and Zyn boosts PMI’s performance in Q2 2025

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 23rd July 2025

Philip Morris International reported a positive performance in the second quarter of the year, driven by a reacceleration of its heated tobacco device, Iqos, and the US offtake growth of its nicotine pouch brand, Zyn...

Strong opposition from some EU member states could halt recast TED

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 22nd July 2025

As tensions over US tariffs simmer, a new fiscal battle has erupted in Europe, where the European Commission’s proposal to expand tobacco taxes has provoked sharp resistance from key European Union member states ...

To ban or to regulate? Ireland and the UK look to decide the fate of nicotine pouches

Written by Freddie Dawson | 21st July 2025

Since the 1st July ban on disposable vapes in the UK, retail enforcement there say nicotine pouch sales are replacing them, and concerns have cropped up again for youth uptake in the UK and Ireland...

Forging ahead: technological innovation in reduced-risk products advancing fast

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 18th July 2025

Unlike filter cigarettes, which basically remained unchanged since they first entered the market in 1934, reduced-risk products have become a realm of innovation since their inception ...

Updated EU tax directive covers HTPs and pouches, hikes member state taxes

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 18th July 2025

The European Commission has officially adopted a proposal for a recast of the Tobacco Excise Directive, expanding the scope of the directive to include heated tobacco products (HTPs), nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes ...

Proposed EU tobacco tax hike risks revolt over member state sovereignty

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 17th July 2025

The European Commission’s proposal to tap into national tobacco taxes to fund its expanded budget could spark a contentious debate among member states, which may view it as an overreach into their financial sovereignty ...

Smart quitting: new inhaler and heating technologies may aid smoking cessation

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 16th July 2025

The effectiveness of the arsenal of nicotine replacement therapy products available to help smokers quit remains disappointing, but new inhaler technology could deliver better results ...

An overview of enforcement actions: a new TobaccoIntelligence tracker

Written by Freddie Dawson | 15th July 2025

TobaccoIntelligence is introducing a new enforcement tracker that will collate online accounts of regulator action on illicit e-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine products ...

What could happen to the market as Trump spares China in latest tariff battle

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 15th July 2025

China’s exclusion from the new measures, slated to take effect from 1st August, should not be interpreted as a détente, but rather as a tactical choice ...

Advances in age-verification and age-gating technologies could save the day

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 11th July 2025

Could age-verification and age-gating technologies help get the balance right between flavoured alternative nicotine products as smoking-cessation aids for adults and keeping them away from under-age users? ...

Poland brings nicotine pouches under regulation for first time with new law

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 10th July 2025

Nicotine pouches are now regulated in Poland for the first time, under new legislation that took effect on 5th July and introduces age restrictions and product limitations on nicotine-free e-cigarettes and pouches ...

US Supreme Court sides with retailers on their being affected by FDA denial orders

Written by Freddie Dawson | 9th July 2025

The US Supreme Court has again turned to the issue of proper venue for lawsuits, which has been brought to a head by companies challenging US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions on product authorisations...

Trump’s second term so far: pouch use during hearings and government cuts

Written by Freddie Dawson | 3rd July 2025

The first six months of the current administration under US president Donald Trump can be defined by its use of executive orders and imposition of tariffs on goods imported into the US ...

Supreme plans UK nicotine pouch manufacturing after solid FY2025

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 1st July 2025

UK consumer goods company Supreme recorded a solid performance in its vaping division, and plans to invest £0.4m to establish nicotine pouch manufacturing in the country ...

EU member states take on regulatory concerns over synthetic nicotine variant

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 30th June 2025

Marketed as an alternative to traditional nicotine, 6-methyl nicotine is drawing growing concern from public health authorities in countries across the European Union ...

A look at nicotine marketing ahead of the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill becoming law

Written by Freddie Dawson | 30th June 2025

The UK government anticipates that its upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill will eliminate all potential grey areas in tobacco and nicotine advertising and vaping regulations ...

At Global Forum on Nicotine, flavour ban frustrations and FCTC take centre stage

Written by Barnaby Page | 27th June 2025

Frustrations with flavour restrictions and the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) were two of the strongest themes emerging from last week’s Global Forum on Nicotine ...

Leaked EU plan points to tax hikes on heated tobacco and nicotine pouches

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 26th June 2025

The European Commission is reportedly planning significant tax hikes on e-liquids, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products, based on a leaked impact assessment ...

PMI and Swedish Match push for Zyn pouches to get US FDA MRTP status

Written by Freddie Dawson | 24th June 2025

Philip Morris International (PMI)’s modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) submission status for Zyn nicotine pouches has raised a few interesting comparisons with existing reduced-risk products ...

US FDA debuts AI tool ahead of time but early users encounter teething problems

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 19th June 2025

With great fanfare, the US Food and Drug Administration has announced the rollout of its new artificial intelligence scientific review assistant, Elsa. But questions have been raised about the tool’s potential ...

Three proposals push back on pouch ban in France as smoke-free zones take effect

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 18th June 2025

As France heads into summer with expanded public smoking restrictions starting 1st July, a parallel legislative battle is unfolding over the government's plan to ban nicotine pouches ...

Another reduced-risk advocacy group closes, leaving space for misinformation

Written by Freddie Dawson | 17th June 2025

Recently, three harm-reduction advocacy organisations have stopped operating, and though they gave different reasons for closing, they have more in common than the explanations might suggest ...

How will the populist pushback in recent elections impact nicotine alternatives?

Written by Freddie Dawson | 16th June 2025

Last November, the feeling was that the election of US president Donald Trump indicated a general shift to the right in global politics, but the results did not quite pan out that way ...

Replicating research could shift doubt cast on reduced-risk potential of HTPs

Written by Freddie Dawson | 9th June 2025

Replication is necessary to determine whether the recent critical meta-analysis of heated tobacco studies holds water. It was generally down on both the reduced risk potential of heated tobacco products (HTPs) and their ability to...

Ispire joint venture files first-ever US FDA PMTA for age-gating chip in ENDS devices

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 2nd June 2025

Ike Tech, co-founded by Ispire, filed the first-ever premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a system that requires continuous, real-time ID verification to access ENDS devices ...

Spotlight on Big Tobacco’s smoke-free shift: nicotine pouches with potential

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 29th May 2025

The fourth and final part of our series looks at the impressive growth trajectory of nicotine pouches, the power of brand‑building and the regulatory risks facing the modern oral nicotine category ...

Are Australia’s restrictive regulations to blame for a rise in black-market demand?

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 27th May 2025

March saw Australia’s largest-ever haul of illegal cigarettes and vapes by a health authority, and similar seizures have occurred in the wake of regulations in effect since October ...

Spotlight on Big Tobacco’s smoke-free shift: rivals in a PMI-dominated market

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 26th May 2025

In part three of a four-part series, we see how Philip Morris International’s competitors are working hard to catch up in the heated tobacco market and examine Big Tobacco’s strategies for next-generation products ...

Are Dutch nicotine product flavour bans healthy or an attempt to stop progress?

Written by Freddie Dawson | 23rd May 2025

Why has the Netherlands taken such a harsh, prohibitionist stance on nicotine when it has historically been liberal in its approach to other so-called vice products? ...

Spotlight on Big Tobacco’s smoke-free shift: betting on the future with vaping

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 22nd May 2025

In part two of a four-part series, we look at the role vaping plays in tobacco companies’ quest to transform themselves into smoke-free businesses, with one company standing out in the category ...

22nd Century launches partner-branded VLN products and rebrands its own line

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st May 2025

US-based 22nd Century Group has secured new opportunities to drive volume across its VLN brand very-low-nicotine cigarette products and is launching two partner-branded products ...

New US surgeon general nominee could bode well for harm-reduction products

Written by Freddie Dawson | 20th May 2025

New US surgeon general nominee Casey Means has not publicly laid out any position on vaping, nicotine or smoking cessation, but some of her public comments suggest she may be amenable to reduced-harm products ...

JTI follows strong Q1 report with plans to discontinue its Ploom X Advanced device

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 20th May 2025

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) announced it has discontinued sales of the Ploom X Advanced heated tobacco device, effective from mid-May 2025 until stocks are sold out ...

Spotlight on Big Tobacco’s smoke-free shift: real progress or far-off promise?

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 19th May 2025

In part one of a four-part series, we examine how close leading players are to their goals of becoming smoke-free almost ten years after the first tobacco company committed to swapping cigarettes for alternative products...

WHO calls for stronger restrictions and flavour bans on novel nicotine products

Written by Freddie Dawson | 16th May 2025

All flavours should be banned for nicotine products, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which also wants increased regulation of advertising, limits on hardware design, and plain packaging requirements implemented across the board ...

US-China tariff pause eases pressure on nic alternatives sector, but risks still loom

Written by Freddie Dawson | 15th May 2025

Goods imported from China to the US will see a 115% reduction in tariffs as of 14th May, but the abrupt, temporary change offers no real certainty for long-term business planning ...

US tariffs on Chinese vapes may predict the fate of other reduced-risk products

Written by Freddie Dawson | 14th May 2025

This timeline of tariffs will be updated as further changes are made to the US tariff policy on Chinese imports or as new documents are added to the US Federal Register ...

Is there hope for tobacco harm reduction, despite the WHO’s prohibitionist stance?

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 14th May 2025

Two decades after the adoption of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, public health expert Derek Yach asks: ”Surely we could have done better by now?” ...

US-based think tank on how to reform FDA CTP and streamline PMTA process

Written by Freddie Dawson | 12th May 2025

The Tax Foundation has published a series of potential reforms it believes the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products could realistically implement to address the country’s nicotine alternatives industry ...

Turning Point Brands Q1 2025 modern oral sales nearly double those of Q4 2024

Written by Freddie Dawson | 12th May 2025

Nicotine pouch sales continue to climb for Turning Point Brands, which reports sales for its modern oral category (which includes pouches and most snuff) reached $22.3m for the first quarter of 2025 ...

New research casts doubt on the reduced-risk potential of heated tobacco products

Written by Freddie Dawson | 9th May 2025

Research into using heated tobacco products (HTPs) as a cessation tool, and the health impact of HTPs themselves, has left many scientists unimpressed ...

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