LAS VEGAS -- The tobacco category today continues to be one of opposing forces, with regulatory pressures on one end pushing against a renewed surge in product innovation, according to panelists at the 2018 NACS Show.
Despite an apparent increase in consumer interest for closed-system, electronic-vaping devices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state and local lawmakers appear intent on issuing new rules and regulations on the emerging subcategory, said Melissa Vonder Haar, senior account manager for iSee Store Innovations, St. Louis, who moderated the session that drew about 200 conference attendees during the Oct. 7-10 convention and trade show in Las Vegas.
To battle ever-mounting regulation, especially proposals coming from the state and local level, Anne Flint, director of category management, tobacco, for Cumberland Farms, Westborough, Mass., said organization is crucial. “With local laws, sometimes we don’t find out about [a measure] until it’s passed,” she said. “We advocate for our stores to give us the heads up.”
Keeping up with local regulations, as well as consumer demand in each market, is a major undertaking. “We have 67 plan-o-grams for OTP [other tobacco products] sets,” Flint said. “It’s a challenge, but we try.”
With regard to innovation, Flint struck a cautionary tone. “Combustibles are still a large part of our revenue,” she told attendees. “The future is unknown, but we are still trying to maintain a category that exists today.”
That’s not to say that innovation is out of the picture, but panelist Lou Maiellano, president of TAZ Marketing & Consulting Group, Sevierville, Tenn., said retailers need to do their due diligence and investigate suppliers, especially those who are new to the market. “There are so many mistruths out there,” Maiellano said. “So many are trying to place product and run.”
That said, he suggested retailers develop a “new age alternatives” rack that could house everything from cannabinoid-based herbal remedies to nicotine toothpicks.
“We have to put stuff out there and if it’s not going to make it, that’s OK,” Maiellano said. “We’re sophisticated enough to take off what doesn’t work and put up the next thing.”
Photograph by CSP staff
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