Tag: reatil

  • Despite Regulatory Challenges, Vapor Retail Rises

    Despite Regulatory Challenges, Vapor Retail Rises

    Regulatory challenges have had a major impact on the vaping industry. Premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), along side recent shipping changes have been testing the markets as of late. However, according to IRI Total U.S. Convenience data, for the latest four weeks ending April 18, 2021, electronic smoking devices saw a 19.9 percent increase in dollar sales and a 24.5 percent increase in unit sales. And for the latest 52 weeks, the category saw a 10.5 percent increase in dollar sales and a 17.7 percent increase in unit sales.

    Credit: Auremar

    Rick Staley, merchandising manager for Nashville, Tenn.-based Tri Star Energy’s Twice Daily stores, noted its numbers are overall in line with IRI’s, according to CStore Decisions. “At Twice Daily, customers are looking for alternative tobacco products,” he said. “We’ve noticed that nicotine pouches and vapor are both doing very well.”

    And at ARKO Corp.’s GPM Investments, the vape subcategory is doing “extremely well,” said Kaitlyn Meara, GPM’s tobacco category manager, adding that customers are looking for variety in nicotine delivery, flavors and price points. The Richmond, Va.-based chain operates or supplies stores in 33 states and Washington, D.C., including both its 1,350 company-operated stores and approximately 1,600 dealer sites. “Like in most other CPG categories,” Meara said, “we saw an increase in baskets due to customers making fewer trips.”

    Now that people are starting to return to their routines and to more traditional work environments, much remains unknown about the way that consumers’ habits will shift moving forward.

    Meara noted it’s extremely hard to predict the tobacco category as a whole, but she’s “excited about the innovation in the category with nicotine pouches and IQOS.”

  • VDX Distro Launches Four Seasons E-Liquid Brand

    VDX Distro Launches Four Seasons E-Liquid Brand

    VDX Distro announced today the launch of its e-liquid brand, Four Seasons Fine Tobacco. The brand was founded to give smokers a more authentic and pleasing replacement for traditional cigarettes, according to a press release.

    Credit: Four Seasons

    “Four Seasons’ e-liquids are designed to withstand flavor bans by being what they are and no more – pure, authentic tobacco flavors. Its flavors are all made from naturally extracted tobacco, with no artificial flavors, colors, additives, or sweeteners, giving consumers that pure tobacco taste,” the release states. “Each flavor is carefully crafted to emulate those of the most widely appreciated cigarette brands, resulting in a vaping experience that most closely resembles the mouth feel, throat hit, and taste.”

    Four Seasons’ products have received an acceptance letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administartion (FDA) for its premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) accepted, according to the release.

    “At Four Seasons we seek to bring you a satisfying vaping experience that will give you the tools you need to make the switch away from combustible tobacco for good,” said Four Seasons CEO and Founder Ryan Chalmé. “Our mission from day one remains the same as it does today, helping adults discover an alternative to traditional tobacco.”

    The FDA requires a product to have been on the market prior to Aug. 8, 2016 and have filed a PMTA in order to remain on the market after Sept. 9, 2020. There was no mention if Four Seasons was on the market prior to Aug. 8, 2016.