British American Tobacco Launches Synthetic Nicotine Bag Velo Plus in The United States, Expected To Be Launched in 2025

British American Tobacco launches synthetic nicotine bag Velo Plus in the United States, expected to be launched in 2025

British American Tobacco will launch Velo Plus, a nicotine bag product using synthetic nicotine, in the US market by 2025, marking the first time a large tobacco company has explicitly used synthetic nicotine. BAT expects significant revenue growth in the electronic cigarette and nicotine bag markets by 2030.

According to Reuters on October 16th, British American Tobacco (BAT) will launch Velo Plus, a nicotine bag product that uses synthetic nicotine, in the United States.

David Waterfield, CEO of Renault American, a subsidiary of BAT in the United States, revealed that this new product is expected to be launched in 2025, offering multiple nicotine strengths and containing synthetic nicotine. The launch of Velo Plus marks the first time a large tobacco company has explicitly used synthetic nicotine.

Traditionally, smoking alternatives such as electronic cigarettes produced by large tobacco companies, including BAT, typically contain nicotine extracted from tobacco plants, while synthetic nicotine is made through chemical methods in the laboratory. David pointed out that from a chemical perspective, natural nicotine and synthetic nicotine are the same, and BAT will seek other opportunities in the field of synthetic nicotine in the future.

In recent years, synthetic nicotine has been more widely used in the United States to avoid the lengthy application process of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Previously, the FDA only had regulatory authority over natural nicotine, so small e-cigarette or nicotine bag manufacturers did not need to follow the FDA's application process. This law was amended in April 2022.

David also mentioned that Velo Plus is a product acquired by BAT, and its previous owner submitted an FDA application before the May 2022 deadline, which means the product can still be sold while waiting for approval.

BAT predicts that the revenue scale of the US e-cigarette market will grow from approximately £ 9 billion currently to £ 14 billion by 2030, while the revenue of the nicotine bag industry will increase from £ 1.7 billion to £ 7 billion during the same period.

David stated that the current 9% decline in combustible tobacco revenue in the United States is "abnormal" and expects the industry's revenue growth in the US market to stabilize at around 1% over the next decade.