Smokeless Tobacco, E-Vapour Products and Heated Tobacco in the US

2021 DEVELOPMENTS

The rise of synthetic nicotine in e-vapour products

Synthetic nicotine products took e-vapour products by storm in 2020, meeting the demand for flavour variety and convenience that opened up following the FDA’s January 2020 flavour ban on tobacco-derived brands and ongoing PMTA uncertainty. Many customers accustomed to smoking flavoured vapour products soon found familiar alternatives in these synthetic products.

Tobacco-free oral nicotine gains traction

Tobacco-free oral nicotine is continuing to grow, as adult consumers look for convenient alternatives. Again, synthetic nicotine is seen, contained in the majority of oral products, such as pouches, gum, mints, lozenges and toothpicks, although tobacco-derived nicotine products also hold part of the market.

Snus continues its growth

Swedish-style snus has enjoyed steady volume growth for over a decade in the US, and 2021 was no exception. Snus is grouped in with other alternative products that are perceived as less harmful, such as e-vapour products, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Heated tobacco will try and get a foothold

It is early days for heated tobacco, but it has the potential to gain attention, adoption and market share in the late forecast period. IQOS has been the only heated tobacco product (HTP) to be sold in the US, launching in 2019 and 2020 exclusively in three metropolitan areas.

PMTA uncertainty for e-vapour products

Synthetic e-vapour products were set to continue to see double-digit growth, especially as most tobacco-derived nicotine vapour products were coursing through the required federal PMTA process and still lacked flavoured options. However, their future is less certain after the FDA gained regulatory authority over synthetic nicotine in April 2022.

Dual usage and replacement trends

The topic of dual usage is pertinent, as companies are looking to fill in the gap of consumers’ desire for alternative products to help decrease consumption of another product, offer greater convenience, and for immediate or eventual replacement of another product. Dual or multi-use of tobacco products in the US is small, but showed slow increases in 2020 and 2021, as the pandemic led more people to pick up a stress-reducing habit.