US
According to an industry researcher speaking at a CSP tobacco forum, vaping cartridges and tobacco-free nicotine pouches have been category leaders so far in 2019.
Even taking into account San Francisco-based Juul pulling flavored-vaping cartridges (or pods) last fall, e-cigarettes and their components continue to increase in both volume and sales for c-stores, said Don Burke, senior vice president of Management Science Associates (MSA), an industry research firm based in Pittsburgh.
Cartridge volume grew 171.7% by serving units at convenience stores for the year ending June 29, compared to the previous year, Burke said. Growth at all retail outlets for cartridges was 160.6% year over year, with c-stores representing 78% of cartridge distribution across all channels. Although vaping products represent only 5% of the total nicotine business, they continue to be a fast-growing tobacco subcategory, Burke said, despite Juul pulling four flavored pods late last year.
Volume in cartridges, he said, saw a spike in orders prior to the announced withdrawal. A decline occurred after Juul stopped supplying the products, and then cartridges of tobacco and mint saw a significant uptick, which essentially replaced the lost volumes.
The only other products surpassing vaping cartridges in the past year, Burke said, were tobacco-free nicotine products, which can take many forms, including pouches, lozenges, and even nicotine-infused toothpicks. These products saw a 237% increase in consumer units year over year, with 91% of that distribution going through convenience stores, he said.
Orally consumed nicotine products represented 0.1% of the total nicotine business, Burke said.