Author: Staff Writer

  • Zinwi to Hold Flavoring Event at UK Vapor Expo

    Zinwi to Hold Flavoring Event at UK Vapor Expo

    Zinwi Biotech, a major Chinese e-liquid manufacturer, has announced it will bring its Good Flavor products to the UK Vaper Expo from May 12 – 14 in Birmingham. Attendees of the occasion will have the opportunity to witness firsthand Zinwi’s Good Flavor and will be able to customize their own flavors during the event.

    “Zinwi’s products are known to be equivalent to three keywords in the industry: high return to flavor, high smoothness and high stability,” stated to a Zinwi spokesperson. “The primary reason behind the ‘high return to flavor’ characteristic is the stringent fragrance selection process.”

    The “high return to flavor” concept is the requirement that each component of Zinwi’s e-liquids to have the highest levels of quality and purity. One of the most important components of an e-liquid is fragrance and the fragrance selection process begins in Quality Control where Zinwi analyzes a fragrance’s physical and chemical indicators and the legality of the components used, according to the spokesperson.

    “It is then followed by our sensory evaluation team to evaluate the richness and purity level of the fragrances,” the spokesperson said. “The samples and the finished products will then be evaluated by Quality Control to ensure the highest level of quality of the e-liquid after the fragrances have been added to the products in the testing and manufacturing stage.”

    Another reason Zinwi’s e-liquid has an enhanced flavor profile is the company’s Atomization Technology Research Center, which has self-developed nicotine salts and the sweeteners used in the e-liquids to ensure the highest quality of those components of the e-liquid formula, according to the spokesperson.

    “Nicotine salt has been delicately developed taking into close consideration the stirring time, the temperature, and the amount of nicotine added in combination with other components such as benzoic acid. The diverse range of sweeteners are also developed to match different vaping devices, for example, different puff-range disposable devices and ceramic core vaping devices,” the spokesperson explained.

    “Sweeteners can easily affect the flavor either to be ‘too sweet’ or ‘not enough sweet.’ Having a diverse range of sweeteners can avoid the “too sweet” or “not enough sweet” challenge and help the finished products to maintain the ‘high return to flavor’ characteristic.”

    Additionally, Zinwi’s flavoring team are some of the most experienced in the industry. Apart from flavorist’s own flavoring experiences, Zinwi’s flavoring team together has created over 50, 000 formulas, and hundreds more are added every day on average.

    “Zinwi’s good flavor products are not attributed by one single factor,” said the spokesperson. “It is the combined factors including the raw materials selection, the self-developed e-liquid components such as nicotine salts and sweeteners, the quality control procedures and the well-trained flavoring team that guarantee the good flavor.”

    Established in 2016 and headquartered in the Guangming District of Shenzhen, China, Zinwi Biotech is a high-tech company that specializes in providing integrated e-liquid solutions including R&D, production and sales services to global e-cigarette manufacturers and brands. Due to its strong R&D capabilities, stringent quality control procedures and premium client network, Zinwi has become the world’s leading integrated e-liquid solutions provider.

  • UK Prisoners Spend More Than $8.5 Million on Vapes

    UK Prisoners Spend More Than $8.5 Million on Vapes

    Credit: Methaphum

    In the UK, campaigners say figures in a new report showed inmates are spending more than £7 million ($8.5 million) a year on e-cigarettes.

    The amount spent in canteens has risen every year since 2019 after a smoking ban was phased in by the government across closed jails in England and Wales.

    In the previous financial year, inmates spent £7,655,766 on vapes and £7,930 on e-cigarettes — a three-year high overall, according to media reports.

    Prisoners have already spent £6,730,176 of their own money on vapes alone in the current period up to January.

    British American Tobacco (BAT) and Manchester-headquartered Supreme Imports Ltd. were named as suppliers of the products in the data released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

  • Vuse and Juul Both See Slight Dip in Market Share

    Vuse and Juul Both See Slight Dip in Market Share

    A slight dip in the market-share lead of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse vaping system was announced in the latest Nielsen convenience store report released last week.

    Vuse’s market share declined from 42.2 percent to 41.8 percent, compared with Juul declining from 26.1 percent to 26 percent.

    The latest Nielsen analysis covers the four-week period ending April 22.

    According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen. Local vape shops are not included in the data.

    Consumer demand for tobacco products has ebbed and flowed over the past 12 months, mostly from the impact of inflation and recent upticks in traditional cigarette prices, according to media reports.

    No. 3 NJoy was unchanged at 2.7 percent, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4 percent.

    Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2 percent increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 22.6 percent decline in the latest report.

    By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 23.1 percent in the latest report, while NJoy was down 8.1 percent, blu eCigs down 35.1 percent and Japan Tobacco’s Logic up 4.9 percent.

    As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6 percent U.S. e-cig market share.

    In March of this year, Altria Group announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Njoy Holdings for approximately $2.75 billion in cash. Altria said it had multiple sources of funding for the deal, including cash from a $2.7 billion agreement with Philip Morris International last year for IQOS. 

    A day before the Njoy announcement, Altria Group announced it had exchanged its entire investment in Juul Labs for a non-exclusive, irrevocable global license to certain of Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property.

  • Isreal Considers Ban on All E-Cigarette Marketing

    Isreal Considers Ban on All E-Cigarette Marketing

    Credit: Hamara

    Israel’s health ministry discussed the possibility of banning the marketing of electronic cigarettes, according to i24 News.

    The ministry said, “options are being examined due to two difficult cases and the widespread phenomenon,” referring to the increase of youth using e-cigarettes.

    The ministry is considering the possibilities of banning the marketing of electronic cigarettes altogether, banning only those flavored or requiring dissuasive images on packaging.

  • Sunsoil CEO Sets Sights on Price Cuts for Cannabis

    Sunsoil CEO Sets Sights on Price Cuts for Cannabis

    Credit: Sunsoil

    Sunsoil, the largest CBD and hemp company in Vermont and the fifth largest in the United States, is the only U.S. CBD company to do everything on-site — from farming to production, to manufacturing and distribution.

    The company is also the only FDA-certified organic hemp company to do everything by hand. Sunsoil’s new CEO, Bharat Ayyar, said he believes doing the process this way lends itself to better products and cheaper prices.

    Ayyar has only been CEO for a few weeks, and in his new role, he has continued to prioritize the same intentions that got the company to where it is now, according to MYNBC5.

    “If you’re using it [CBD] every day and buying from other brands, it could cost you over $100 a month, which is wild,” Ayyar said. “A lot of people can’t afford that, and so our goal is really to cut the price of CBD.”

    He continued on to share that the company has taken on a goal to cut down its prices by 80 percent over the next five years. Ayyar said the company is “well on our way to doing that” and has already cut down their prices by 40 percent since January.

    Ayyar also wants to clear up any misconceptions people might have about CBD and raise awareness about the wide range of people it can help. He said it’s something he had already witnessed in his own life, after converting his parents to using Sunsoil’s products.

  • Oklahoma Reinstates Fines for Youth Buying Vapes

    Oklahoma Reinstates Fines for Youth Buying Vapes

    Credit: Ball Studios

    The governor of Oklahoma signed a bill last year that removed fines for those under the age of 21 years old caught illegally purchasing or possessing vaping and other products. Earlier this week, Stitt signed a new law reinstating those fines.

    On Monday, Stitt signed H.B. 2165 into law, which reintroduces fines for those under 21 years old caught possessing, purchasing, trying to purchase or using fraudulent identification to try to buy vaping and other tobacco products, reports Charlie Minato of Halfwheel.

    Anyone caught violating the law must attend a tobacco cessation program and could be required to complete community service. If they do not, they could be fined up to $50 for the first offense and $100 for any subsequent offense.

    In addition to restoring fines as a form of punishment, H.B. 2165 would also restore the ability of local cities and municipalities to issue their own penalties, something that was removed last year.

    In 2020, Stitt signed a bill to raise the minimum age to purchase vapor, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to 21 years old.

    The new law goes into effect on Nov. 1, 2023.

  • U.S. FDA on Track to Complete PMTAs by End of Year

    U.S. FDA on Track to Complete PMTAs by End of Year

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it is on track to finish reviewing premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for the most prevalent e-cigarettes by the end of the year, reports CSP.

    The FDA has reviewed 52 percent of covered applications as of March 31. Covered applications are for new tobacco products on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016, with a PMTA filed by Sept. 9, 2020, and sold under the brands Juul, Vuse, Njoy, Logic, Blu, Smok, Suorin or Puff Bar and reach 2 percent or more of total retail sales volume per NielsenIQ reports, according to CSP. 

    Based on the latest status report, the FDA plans to have 53 percent of covered applications acted on by June 30, 55 percent of covered applications acted on by Sept. 30 and 100 percent of covered applications acted on by Dec. 31.  

    The court-ordered deadline for FDA review of PMTAs was Sept. 9, 2021, but the agency did not meet that deadline and now has to file regular status reports on progress. The next status report is due by July 24.

  • France Considers Ban on Disposable Vape Products

    France Considers Ban on Disposable Vape Products

    Credit: Adobe Stock

    The ban may form part of a new anti-smoking plan the health ministry is working on for the coming five years.

    The French government may ban disposable electronic cigarettes by the end of this year, Health Minister Francois Braun said Wednesday.

    “I’m in favor of a ban,” Braun told broadcaster France Inter, adding that the devices “lead some of our young people towards using tobacco,” as reported by Agence France Presse, according to Barron’s.

    “Smoking is a scourge, it kills 75,000 people per year” in France, he said.

    Although President Emmanuel Macron’s government has no majority in parliament, ministers would “work with lawmakers” to reach a deal on a ban, Braun said.

    It could be enacted “before the end of this year,” he added.

    The ban may form part of a new anti-smoking plan the health ministry is working on for the coming five years.

    Sweet and fruit-flavored one-use electronic cigarettes – known as “puffs” in France – are sold in brightly colored packaging costing an estimated €8 ($8.83) to €12 for 500 puffs (inhalations).

  • Reynolds Warns Vape Shops to Stop Selling Flavored Vapes

    Reynolds Warns Vape Shops to Stop Selling Flavored Vapes

    Credit: Lovely Day 12

    A STAT news report claims R.J. Reynolds has sent letters to several small vape shops threatening to sue if the shops do not stop selling flavored vaping products.

    The STAT news story claims to have obtained two letters, both of which were sent in March, giving the vape shops just a few days to confirm they will no longer sell flavored tobacco products.

    Failure to comply could result in “legal action, and the costs, attorneys’ fees, and adverse publicity to which a lawsuit would subject [the vape shop],” the letters warn, according to STAT.

    The letters, which were sent to stores in New Jersey and Alabama, also warn that the shops are violating local laws regulating the sale of flavored tobacco.

    The New Jersey letter also copies the county prosecutor where the vape shop is located, in an apparent attempt to notify the local authorities of the violation.

    he letters are the latest example — and a marked escalation — of Reynolds’ campaign to force a crackdown on illegal vaping products.

    In the article, Clive Bates, a tobacco harm reduction advocate, criticized Reynolds.

    “I do not think Reynolds should be hounding vape shops for selling life-saving products to their regular customers,” Bates wrote in an email to STAT. “It should not be picking on little guys, but pressing federal bureaucracies to do their job, and do it better.”

    In February, RAI Services Company, a Reynolds company, submitted a citizen petition asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to adopt a new enforcement policy directed at flavored “illegally marketed disposable electronic nicotine delivery system” (ENDS) products.

    The petition was filed on Feb. 6 and posted by the FDA to Regulations.gov for public comment on Feb. 8.

  • Hawaii Sends 70 Percent Vape Tax Bill to Governor

    Hawaii Sends 70 Percent Vape Tax Bill to Governor

    Credit: Timothy S. Donahue

    Lawmakers in Hawaii last week passed a “tax parity” law that applies the tax rate for traditional tobacco products to vaping products. If signed into law by Governor Josh Green, vaping products would be subject to a 70 percent wholesale tax—one of the highest rates in the country.

    The bill, SB975 SD2 HD3, defines vaping products as “tobacco products,” and was negotiated in a marathon conference session between the State House and Senate just before the deadline for this year’s legislative session. The legislative session adjourns on May 4.

    It isn’t certain the exact date the bill will be sent to Green, or if he intends to sign it into law. If signed, the tax will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. Currently, Hawaii has no tax on vaping products.

    Right now, e-cigarettes only have the general excise tax (GET) of between 4.1 percent and 4.7 percent attached to them. Combustible cigarettes sold in Hawaii carry other taxes.

    Last year, having survived a rollercoaster legislative session that saw the bill near death on multiple occasions, Hawaii’s ban on flavored e-cigarettes was signed by its governor.