Author: Timothy Donahue

Supreme to Announce 2023 Earnings, Record Revenues

Investors will be laser-focused on regulatory pressures when prominent vape distributor Supreme plc reports its audited interim results on Tuesday, November 28.
The AIM-listed company is expected to post record sales but forward guidance will be paramount amid a crackdown on underage vaping single-use next-generation products, according to Proactive Investors.
U.K.-based Supreme supplies a range of formats across several vaping brands, including 88Vape, Liberty Flights, KiK and T-Juice.
The company has expressed enthusiasm for greater oversight in the vaping industry but bearish share price performance following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s hawkish comments in October pointed to concern among Supreme stakeholders.
According to Supreme’s chief financial officer Suzanne Smith, the negative press surrounding underage vaping is doing considerable harm to what she sees as a device whose primary purpose is getting adults off the smokes.
“If we can nip that in the bud, vaping can be celebrated again for what it was there to do, which was to get people off smoking,” Smith told Proactive in October.
Since then, Supreme has announced changes to its products, including plainer packages, age-appropriate flavors, suitable locations in stores, and in-store vape-disposal bins.
Some of these changes will come with costs and concerns over alienating existing customers.
Nevertheless, Tuesday’s interim earnings call is expected to be bullish, with company guidance citing interim revenues exceeding £100 million ($126 million), with underlying earnings of no less than £15 million.
The disposable vaping brand ElfBar distributions are expected to comprise around half of all sales and gross profits for Supreme.
November 27, 2023
BAT Calls for ‘More Stringent’ Regulations on Vaping

BAT has called for “more stringent” regulations on vaping, including a licensing regime similar to alcohol and cigarettes.
The London-based e-cigarette and traditional tobacco manufacturer also wants a ban on flavors that “uniquely” target children.
The UK government is already considering new regulations amid concerns that many young people are vaping, according to the BBC.
It has promised legislation following a public consultation that is currently underway.
BAT is the third-largest seller of vapes in the UK, according to market research firm NielsenIQ.
It sells Rothmans and Lucky Strike cigarettes and is the most successful of the big western tobacco companies in the UK’s booming market for disposable vapes, thought to be worth at least £3 billion ($3.78 billion) a year.
BAT is calling for vape sellers to be licensed and for licenses to be taken away from firms caught selling to minors. You must be 18 to buy vapes in the UK legally.
The company also wants a ban on soft drinks and sweet or dessert flavors such as gummy bears or cotton candy, which it says appeal “uniquely” to the young.
BAT doesn’t sell these flavors, though they have been a factor in the success of market leader Elfbar, the number two, SKE, and other brands.
November 27, 2023
Foundation for a Smoke-Free World Severs Nicotine Ties

Credit: Akeeris
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, which was originally funded by Philip Morris International (PMI), announced that it would no longer accept any monetary support from the nicotine industry to gain the trust of tobacco control groups.
PMI had pledged to give tens of millions of dollars each year to keep the foundation afloat between 2022 and 2029. In September, they provided a final grant of $122.5 million, equivalent to around three and a half years of their original commitment.
The foundation will now rebrand and find new funders from outside of the industry, Cliff Douglas said in an interview with Reuters.
Douglas, a long-time tobacco control advocate who joined the foundation in October, said he wants to see it re-established as a credible actor in ending smoking.
“Any skepticism around our independence can be laid to rest,” he said.
Douglas pointed to several tobacco control advocates who have sounded positive about the foundation’s new direction. However, other groups remained skeptical about whether it can reset its image.
November 27, 2023
Comment Period for Ireland’s Vaping Rules Begins
Credit: Milbsie
Vapers in Ireland can now have their say from today on the future regulation of vaping products.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has brought legislation before the Oireachtas that will ban under-18s from buying e-cigarettes.
Minister of State Hildeguarde Naughton said the Department of Health wants to know if the public favors further restrictions as well.
“I have given a commitment to further legislation in this area,” she said, according to NewsTalk.
“That’s why we’re launching this consultation today; it runs until January 5th to get people’s views about what other measures we need to introduce in order to decrease the appeal of nicotine and inhaling products.”
Over the next four weeks, the public will be consulted on a number of areas, including:

The display of nicotine-inhaling products in shops
Nicotine-inhaling product flavours
The appearance of nicotine inhaling products
Proxy sales of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products
Smoking in outdoor dining areas
Extending smoke-free restrictions to vaping
Increasing the age of sale for tobacco products
Increasing the price of vapes
Naughton wants “as many people as possible” to engage in public consultation over the coming weeks.
The public consultation is now open for submissions for a six-week period until Friday, January 5, 2024.
The smokers’ rights group Forest has criticized recommendations to regulate the sector further, saying there is a risk that policy will be created “in haste.”
Forest spokesperson John Mallon said: “We urge the government not to succumb to some moral panic about vaping and to regulate reduced risk products with a light touch that doesn’t impact on their effectiveness as a safer alternative to cigarettes.”
November 25, 2023
Vuse Continues to Grow Market Share Over Juul

Credit: RJR Vapor Co.
The latest Nielsen convenience store report covering the period ending November 4th shows the market share for R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse electronic cigarette continues to grow over rival Juul.
Vuse’s market share rose from 41.8% to 42.1%, compared with No. 2 Juul being unchanged at 24.4%.
As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6% U.S. market share in the electronic cigarette category. That’s when a series of regulatory actions led to product-reduction concessions by Juul.
Meanwhile, Altria Group’s ownership of No. 3 NJoy hasn’t resulted in a meaningful market-share increase so far. It remained unchanged at 2.5%, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs, an affiliate of Imperial Brands Plc, was unchanged at 1.3%.
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.
Altria Group and British American Tobacco have issued a warning about the surge in “illicit” synthetic nicotine electronic cigarettes in the U.S. vaping market. Both companies have estimated those synthetic products represent about half of the overall domestic market.
In July, BAT’s president and chief executive Tadeu Marroco expressed his frustration to analysts about the proliferation of “unauthorized products” in the U.S. vapor market.
Marroco’s concerns come in large part because of the pivotal revenue role Vuse is playing toward BAT achieving its fiscal 2024 goal of achieving annual profitability for its new-category products and its 2025 goal of at least $6.4 billion in new-category product revenue.
By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was down 1% in the latest report, while NJoy was down 13.7% and blu eCigs were down 15%. The overall e-cigarette category was down 8.1%.
The recent heightened pressure on overall tobacco industry volumes and sales remained steady over the four-week period.
The Nielsen report reflects the banning of traditional menthol cigarettes in California in December, which represents about 8% of the national marketplace.
November 20, 2023
Australian Lobbists Refuse to Disclose Vape Funding

Lobby groups in Australia representing convenience and grocery stores have refused to tell a Senate inquiry how much they receive in vaping and tobacco industry funding.
The failure to disclose industry funding follows public hearings into the public health (tobacco and other products) bill earlier in November. It comes as concerns are raised about one lobby group having a parliamentary access pass, according to media reports.
If introduced, the reforms will see updated and improved graphic warnings added to tobacco packaging and included on individual cigarettes, and specific additives in tobacco and vaping products, like menthols, banned.
Neither the chief executive of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores [AACS], Theo Foukkare, nor the chief executive of Master Grocers Australia [MGA], David Inall, disclosed the value of the funding their groups received from the vaping or tobacco industries, despite being asked to provide conflict-of-interest statements before attending.
The AACS represents convenience stores and petrol stations, while the MGA is the industry association for independent grocery and convenience stores. Both groups have corporate members, including tobacco companies, and both groups support the tobacco industry’s campaign against plain packaging reforms.
During the inquiry’s public hearings, Foukkare and Inall said proposed tobacco and vaping reforms would fuel the illicit markets, a claim rejected by health experts who gave evidence.
November 20, 2023
Costa Rican Health Ministry Warns of Vaping Dangers

Credit: Joao
The Costa Rican Ministry of Health in Costa Rica has again warned the population about the use of electronic cigarettes by minors and mentioned the provision that prohibits the sale of vaping products to youth.
“In the last months worldwide, there have been events linking the use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), Similar Systems Without Nicotine (SNNS) and electronic devices that use heated tobacco, and analog technologies with lung diseases and even cases of death,” Costa Rican media reports.
“For this reason, this ministry, in a statement, reminds and warns the population about the harmful effects associated with the use of these devices.”
Vaping misinformation is rampant in Costa Rica.
In 2021, the Red Nacional Antitabaco (RENATA) – National Anti-Smoking Network – expressed satisfaction with approving a law banning vaping in Costa Rica.
“It is important to consider the vulnerability of all consumers of tobacco products, including electronic devices or vapers, to any disease of the respiratory system, since the first studies on the effects of the use of vaporizers and heated tobacco products show negative consequences for the lungs and the immune and cardiovascular systems,” said Nydia Amador, president of RENATA.
RENATA also stated that vaping advocates “tried to confuse public opinion by claiming that vaping is 95 percent less harmful than tobacco use.”
Many organizations, such as the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Physicians and Public Health England (PHE) have released studies that show vapor products have been scientifically proven to be 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes and related tobacco products. This is supported by the U.S. Academies of Science, which has also found that e-cigarettes have a lower harm profile than their combustible competition.
November 20, 2023
FDA Continues Crackdown on Youth Appealing Vapes
Credit: iCheer
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to seven online retailers for selling and/or distributing unauthorized e-cigarettes.
The unauthorized e-cigarettes are packaged to look like youth-appealing toys and drink containers, including milk cartons, soft drink bottles, and slushies. The products’ design may also help youth conceal the e-cigarettes from adults or be confused with an everyday object and the contents accidentally ingested by young children, according to the agency.
“As we continue into the school year, it’s critical that parents, teachers, and other adults are aware of illegal e-cigarettes deceptively packaged to look like everyday items,” said Brian King, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “These types of products can be easily concealed and contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm the developing adolescent brain.”
The unauthorized products described in the warning letters issued today include e-cigarettes that:

Imitate drink containers for youth-appealing drinks such as milk, soft drinks, and slushies.
Are designed to look like youth-appealing toys such as dice, phones, and action figures.
“FDA uses a variety of surveillance tools to monitor the rapidly evolving e-cigarette landscape and to identify emerging threats to public health,” said Ann Simoneau, director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement within the CTP. “We use data from these tools to help prioritize investigations of youth-appealing products across the supply chain to ensure illegal products stay off the shelves.”
The retailers receiving these warning letters sell and/or distribute e-cigarettes in the United States that lack authorization from the FDA, which is a requirement under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act to legally market a new tobacco product.
In addition to the specified products mentioned in the warning letters, the retailers were warned to address any violations that are the same as or similar to those stated in the warning letter, and promptly take any necessary actions to bring the tobacco products that they offer for sale in the United States into compliance with the FD&C Act.
The seven retailers issued warning letters were given 15 working days to respond with the steps they will take to correct any violations and to prevent future violations. Failure to promptly correct the violations can result in additional FDA actions such as an injunction, seizure, and/or civil money penalties.
Today’s warning letters are the latest in a series of FDA’s efforts across the supply chain to address illegal e-cigarettes that appeal to youth.
As of November 2023, FDA has issued approximately 630 warning letters to firms for manufacturing and/or distributing illegal e-cigarette products and devices, issued more than 400 warning letters to retailers for the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes, filed civil money penalty complaints against 35 e-cigarette manufacturers and 42 retailers for manufacture or sale of unauthorized products, and worked with the Department of Justice to seek injunctions against 6 manufacturers of unauthorized e-cigarettes.
November 16, 2023
Florida: 25 Cities now Ban Vaping in Public Parks

Credit: Ryan Tishkin
Winter Park became the 25th Florida city to ban smoking and vaping in public parks, beaches and leisure areas. However, in Winter Park, premium cigars are not prohibited.
The ordinance, which passed its first reading at the Nov. 8 city meeting, follows the revision of Florida statute 386.209, according to media reports.
The statute originally placed smoking regulations in the hands of the state legislature but in 2022, at the request of several cities including Winter Park, the statute was changed to allow local enforcement of smoking restrictions in parks, beaches, and other outdoor leisure areas.
The specific areas affected by the ban are parks and outdoor venues owned or operated by the city. The state’s revision of statute 386.209 includes the following:
Counties and municipalities may further restrict smoking within the boundaries of any public beaches and public parks that they own, except that they may not further restrict the smoking of unfiltered cigars. A municipality may further restrict smoking within the boundaries of public beaches and public parks that are within its jurisdiction but are owned by the county, unless such restriction conflicts with a county ordinance, except that they may not further restrict the smoking of unfiltered cigars.
A representative from the City of Winter Park told local media that “as it relates to cigars, we are following the language from the state statute.” Questions directed to the state regarding the statute have not yet been answered.
November 15, 2023
FDA Increases Civil Monetary Penalties for Retailers
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has increased the penalties that nicotine companies and retailers pay if found in violation of the various federal laws regarding nicotine products.
The changes are part of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which requires the penalties to adjust with inflation.
The updated penalties are:

First Violation — $0 (Warning Letter)
2 within a 12-month period — $345 (Previously $320)
3 within a 24-month period — $687 (Previously $638)
4 within a 24-month period — $2,757 (Previously $2,559)
5 within a 36-month period — $6,892 (Previously $6,397)
6 within a 48-month period — $13,785 (Previously $12,794)
The civil monetary penalties are handed out to vaping and other tobacco companies or retailers that are found to violate FDA’s rules regarding vaping and other tobacco products.
Examples could range from an e-cigarette company failing to use a proper warning label to a retailer caught selling any nicotine product without checking the I.D. of an undercover buyer.
November 15, 2023