SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — NJOY Holdings Inc., which makes NJOY Daily and other disposable electronic cigarettes, has voluntarily halted sales of its fruit-flavored products, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The decision comes as lawmakers and anti-vaping advocates raise concerns that young people may migrate to the devices, the report said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is barring most flavors, including fruit and mint, from unauthorized cartridge-based e-cigarettes until companies go through the premarket tobacco application (PMTA) process. But the FDA’s new policy, released Jan. 2, states that the flavor restrictions don’t apply to “completely self-contained, disposable products.”
Disposable e-cigarettes represent about 3% of e-cigarette sales in stores tracked by Nielsen, according to the Journal, citing Wells Fargo.
The NJOY Daily disposable e-cigarette is similar in shape to a cigarette, and they can’t be refilled or recharged. Priced at $5.99 each on the company’s website and sold in convenience stores, the brand represents approximately 13% of the company’s sales, the report said.
NJOY is also known for its pod-based e-cigarette, NJOY Ace. Its watermelon and blueberry refills will be barred under the FDA’s new policy. Fruity flavors account for about 70% of the company’s sales, the report said.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company will stop shipping all products except those formulated to taste like tobacco or menthol once the FDA’s restrictions take effect next week, a person familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
E-cigarette makers must submit for agency review by May any products they want to sell in the United States beyond that point. They can also apply to bring fruit-flavored products back on the market. NJOY plans to submit applications for its fruit-flavored Ace and Daily disposable products, the person said.
In November 2018, another e-cigarette maker, San Francisco-based Juul Labs, stopped accepting retail orders for its Mango, Fruit, Creme and Cucumber flavored pods from the more 90,000 retail stores—including convenience stores, tobacco retailers and vape shops—that sell its products. In October 2019, Juul suspended all sales, including online, of its nontobacco, nonmenthol flavors. And in November 2019, it stopped accepting retail orders and discontinued online sales of its mint-flavored pods, leaving only Virginia Tobacco, Classic Tobacco and Menthol options.
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