Nicotine Pouches Have Become The New Favorite in The US Market. Who Is Leading The Attention?

Nicotine pouches have become the new favorite in the US market. Who is leading the attention?

Philip Morris International's ZYN products continue to sell well in the United States, facing a shortage of products in the market. Altria's ON! brand is accelerating its layout and applying for PMTA for multi-flavor products. Other international tobacco companies are also making product layouts, but which nicotine pouch brands in the United States are the most popular, and which regions pay the most attention to nicotine pouches? What kind of nicotine pouches are the most popular in the US market?

 

After disposable e-cigarettes became a hit in the nicotine industry, nicotine pouches or snus have attracted a lot of attention this year. This type of product has set off a wave of consumption in the United States, the world's largest e-cigarette market.

 

A high-level report released by industry research company Global Market Insights Inc in March this year stated that the nicotine pouch market size in 2023 is about US$6.6 billion, and the base annual growth rate is expected to be about 17.5% in 2024, with a value forecast of US$27.4 billion by 2032.

The sales volume of ZYN products under Philip Morris International in the United States continues to improve, facing a shortage in the market. Altria's brand ON! is accelerating its layout and applying for PMTA for multi-flavor products. Other international tobacco companies are also making product layouts, but which nicotine bag brands in the United States are the most popular, and which regions have the highest attention to nicotine bags? What kind of nicotine bags are most popular in the US market?

 

Key roles drive attention

 

Two supremes use the heat index of Google Trends to conduct an in-depth analysis of the search situation of nicotine bags this year (January 1, 2024 to date) to present the current US market's attention to nicotine bags and product trends.

 

It should be noted that the heat of Google Trends is a relative value ranging from 0 to 100. A value of 100 means that a keyword has the highest search volume in a specified time period, and a value of 50 means that the search volume of the keyword is half of the highest peak.

 

From the heat trend, on January 25, the American public paid the most attention to nicotine bags, reaching the peak since the beginning of this year, and then there was a downward trend.

What pushed nicotine bags to the top was not a certain brand of popular nicotine bag products, but a key person. Two Supremes previously reported that on January 24, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer called on the federal government to take action against a product called "ZYN", which is owned by Philip Morris International (PMI).

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer calls on the federal government to take action against a product called "ZYN" | Source: Daily Mail

 

Schumer said nicotine pouches are a danger to teenagers because they use them as a substitute for e-cigarettes, and urged the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate ZYN's marketing and health effects.

 

Schumer has served as a U.S. Senator from New York since 1999 and became the Senate Majority Leader in 2021. In the U.S. Senate, the majority leader has the power to decide which bills and issues will be submitted to the full Senate for discussion and voting, and can prioritize the policy goals and important bills of his own party. He has a strict regulatory attitude towards e-cigarettes, especially the impact of e-cigarettes on teenagers. He supports the SAFE Kids Act, which aims to ban e-cigarette flavors for teenagers.

 

At the same time, Schumer is also one of the main advocates of marijuana legalization. He has proposed the Marijuana Management and Opportunity Act, which aims to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and allow states to formulate their own marijuana regulations.

 

Large tobacco companies have made early layouts

 

In terms of the popularity of search brands, the top five nicotine pouch brands are ZYN, On!, Rogue, VELO, and Zone X.

 

ZYN: Produced by Swedish Match, a subsidiary of Philip Morris International, it is the most popular nicotine pouch brand in the US market. The product offers up to 10 different flavors, with two options of 3mg and 6mg.

 

On!: Helix Innovations, a subsidiary of Altria, sells in the United States. They have 7 flavors and 5 nicotine strengths (from 1.5mg to 8mg), with 20 nicotine pouches per can.

 

Rogue: A local US brand, offering 11 flavors and two nicotine strengths (3mg and 6mg), 20 nicotine pouches per can, and the nicotine pouch packaging is almost twice as large as other brands.

 

VELO: British American Tobacco acquired EPOK and rebranded it as VELO in 2018 to adapt to the US market. It offers 10 flavors and three nicotine strengths (2mg, 4mg and 7mg).

Zone X: Produced by Skruf Snus AB, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands (Imperial Tobacco), the brand has quickly gained a certain degree of popularity and user base in the market since its launch in 2021.

Nicotine pouch brand popularity ratio | Chart: Two Supremacy

 

It can be seen that four of the top five most popular brands are owned by large tobacco companies. In particular, the ZYN brand, which currently belongs to Philip Morris International, entered the US market for the first time in 2014 and achieved great success. Other large tobacco and nicotine companies also entered the nicotine pouch market after seeing the success of ZYN. It is worth mentioning that Japan Tobacco International (JTI) also has a nicotine pouch brand Nordic Spirit, but it is mainly sold in Europe and is planning to expand to the US market.

 

Nicotine pouches, the bigger the better

 

Among them, Rogue, which is the third most popular, its design reflects the American consumer's preference for products.

 

The iconic feature of Rogue is that the volume of its nicotine pouch is larger than that of other brands, and this design provides a longer use experience.

A Rogue nicotine bag | Source: prilla

 

This is just like the disposable e-cigarettes with large puff counts in the US market, which are constantly seeking breakthroughs in the number of puffs that can be used. Similar "the bigger the better" statements are used as slogans by some disposable e-cigarette brands.

A promotional poster for a disposable e-cigarette｜Source: Demand vape

Megan Gibson, a columnist for Time Magazine, also analyzed the consumer psychology of "bigger is better".

 

Megan Gibson analyzes:

 

Part of it is the history of our country and the idea that we have such a vast space to expand...but since our country no longer has that space to explore or expand, this is the only way we can assert our sovereignty . We coined the phrase "go big or go home."

 

When consumerist culture began to take hold in the 20th century, as the economy developed and consumption capabilities improved, American consumers gradually developed a preference for large-sized, high-value products. This cultural phenomenon is also manifested to varying degrees around the world, but it is particularly noticeable in the United States.

 

In terms of consumer products, disposable e-cigarettes and nicotine bags are also developing in this direction.

 

Smokers pay more attention to nicotine bags

In terms of region, the top five states are not the east and west coast states where new tobacco is currently the most "popular", such as Florida, California, New York, etc.

 

But Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, Montana, Idaho. Two Supremes noted that these states' shared characteristics and unique needs drive the focus on nicotine pouches.

Hot Focus Areas｜Mapping: Two Supremacy

 

These states generally have high smoking rates, higher than the national average, which has prompted many residents to look for healthy alternatives.

For example, Wyoming, which tops the list, has the highest acceptance of nicotine pouches in the country. As early as 2010, Associated Press reporter MIKE STOBBE had published an article pointing out that Wyoming is the state with the highest use of chewing tobacco products (including snus, nicotine pouches and other products) in the country. Nearly one-sixth of adult men in the state use chewing tobacco products; a 2020 survey showed that 8.9% of adults in Wyoming use smokeless tobacco.

 

Secondly, many residents of these states live in rural or remote areas, and residents tend to engage in outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and farm work. The threat of cigarettes with combustible properties to farms and grasslands cannot be underestimated.

 

Take Wyoming as an example. The state has attractions such as Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, which attract a large number of tourists all year round and have become an important economic pillar in the state. Oral products such as nicotine pouches are easy to carry and use, making them ideal for these occasions.

Yellowstone National Park | Source: Nation Park

 

Finally, major brands such as ZYN and On! have actively marketed in these states, making nicotine bags more acceptable and available to local consumers, and relatively loose anti-smoking regulations have also created favorable conditions for the popularization of nicotine bags.

 

The confrontation continues

 

Beyond the search network, ZYN is also the most watched one.

 

In May, the FDA issued more than 100 warning letters and 40 fines to retailers who sold ZYN to underage users.

 

On June 17, Philip Morris International said it would suspend online sales on Swedish Match North America's website ZYN.com across the United States in response to a subpoena from Washington, D.C. (D.C.). Previously, the Attorney General of Washington, D.C. required it to comply with Washington, D.C.'s 2022 ban on all flavored tobacco.

 

The huge market demand and the court's ban have caused a shortage of ZYN products in the United States recently, which has caused dissatisfaction among many nicotine bag consumers. A spokesman for Philip Morris International acknowledged in a statement that ZYN has "short-term inventory constraints and no regulatory or production issues affecting distribution." He also said that PMI plans to build a new ZYN production plant in 2025.

 

Since Philip Morris International acquired ZYN manufacturer Swedish Match for $16 billion, ZYN shipments have soared 80% year-on-year to 131.6 million cans.

 

On the other hand, Altria, a large American tobacco company, announced that it has submitted a pre-market tobacco product application (PMTA) for its on! PLUS oral nicotine pouch product to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These applications were submitted by Helix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Altria. The three products are tobacco, mint and wintergreen, and each flavor has three different nicotine concentration options.

 

Regarding the hot market of nicotine pouches in the United States, Yolanda Richardson, president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that in the past year or so, ZYN has become increasingly popular among teenagers and even younger children, just like e-cigarettes, but because it is smoke-free, schools cannot detect it with smoke detectors.

 

"We are very worried that there is another product on the market that will help create a market for future nicotine addicts, which is a short- to medium-term consequence. But for young people, the most direct consequence is that nicotine is harmful to them."

 

Nicotine pouches may also have to go through the quagmire that electronic cigarettes have gone through again.