CHICAGO — Demonstrating what many retailers have been noticing in their stores, a representative from the maker of nicotine pouch Zyn revealed internal data showing the product’s gradual rise since its introduction into 11 Western states in 2016.
Speaking during a CSP-Swedish Match tobacco webinar earlier this fall, Joe Teller, category management director for the Richmond, Va.-based parent of the Zyn brand, Swedish Match, said can sales have been steadily increasing in stores that received the product starting in 2016. That was the year Swedish Match introduced the product into the United States. The units moved went from an average of five cans per store per month to 54 as of Sept. 1, 2019.
At the convenience chains in that 2016 install group that offered the maximum 12 SKUs, the rate of can sales per store per month was 73. “Variety is key to driving trial,” Teller said.
Stores in the remaining states are seeing unit volumes growing at a similar rate to the Western states, Teller said, suggesting the next stage of category development would be a dedicated nicotine pouch set within the backbar. Such a display would increase consumer choice and grow trial, he said. In a mock rendering of such a display, Teller featured the Zyn product as well as other brands such as On from Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group, Velo from Winston-Salem, N.C.-based R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., Dryft from Moorpark, Calif.-based Kretek International and Rogue from Jacksonville, Fla.-based Swisher International.
Among the potential advantages that nicotine pouches have over other tobacco products and combustibles include no spitting into a cup and none of the social stigma associated with smoking, he said.
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