Soluble nicotine products: a new, rapidly growing market driven by tobacco manufacturers

A new segment of the nicotine market is rapidly developing in Europe and North America: soluble oral tobacco and nicotine products, which come in the form of lozenges, tablets, gels, sticks, or sachets. This growth, which industry players present as a business opportunity, primarily illustrates the tobacco industry's ability to continually renew its offerings to maintain and increase nicotine consumption.[1].

Market growth driven by cigarette manufacturers

The global market for soluble nicotine products (non-pharmaceutical), which includes, among others[2] The market for e-cigarettes—lozenges, sachets, gels, strips, and sticks—is currently estimated at around $2 billion and could reach $3.4 billion by 2036, with an average annual growth rate of nearly 5.4%. Lozenges dominate this market (36.8% of the market), followed by so-called "standard strength" products, meaning those with an intermediate nicotine dosage, presented by the industry as a compromise designed to broaden product acceptance (45.9% of the market). Mint flavor remains the most common (42.6% of the market), ahead of tobacco and fruit, even though the sector acknowledges that regulatory attention is focused particularly on products with the highest nicotine concentrations and the most appealing flavors.

Specialized tobacco sales remain the dominant distribution channel (53.7 million %), and smokers already using nicotine represent 64.2 million % of the user base—a demographic the industry itself describes as the main "tipping point" from cigarettes, rather than a true lever for overcoming addiction. Growth is expected to be strongest in Sweden and the United States (respectively +6.7 million % and +6.3 million % per year), with North America already benefiting from an established distribution network. Major tobacco groups, including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, Imperial Brands, and Altria through its subsidiary Swedish Match, dominate this emerging segment, alongside more specialized players such as Swisher and Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken.

These projections, Statements formulated by actors directly interested in market development should be read with due caution. Nevertheless, they confirm a trend already well documented by health authorities: the tobacco industry is relentlessly diversifying its range of nicotine products to compensate for the decline in smoked tobacco, or even to revitalize its tobacco offerings and attract a new generation of consumers.

A strategy to circumvent anti-smoking policies

The marketing argument put forward for these new products is revealing: their discreet use would allow users to continue consuming nicotine in areas where smoking and vaping are prohibited. This promise is part of a well-established strategy by the tobacco industry, which consists of multiplying the available formats to maintain nicotine addiction, even in places where public health policies specifically aim to reduce exposure to tobacco and its normalization in public spaces.

The anticipated success of menthol flavors within this range adds to the concerns of health authorities. This type of flavor is regularly identified as a factor in attracting younger consumers, even though the industry's marketing emphasizes a target audience of "existing adult consumers.".

Regulations that are always lagging behind industrial innovation

The emergence of this new product range comes at a time when the European Union is still struggling to regulate nicotine pouches. Several countries, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, have finally banned their sale, but only after manufacturers had been selling them for several years. This time lag illustrates a structural weakness in the European regulatory framework: developed product by product, regulations struggle to keep pace with the tobacco industry's innovation, which introduces new formats before previous ones are fully regulated. Soluble oral tobacco products follow this same pattern and, without foresight, risk experiencing the same gap between marketing and legal regulation.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to revise the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Advertising Directive, specifically addressing e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and emerging products not anticipated by the current framework. This revision presents a crucial opportunity to prevent a repeat of the nicotine pouch debacle with soluble oral tobacco products: from a public health perspective, it should lead to their being banned from the European market, rather than waiting, as was the case with pouches, until their widespread use was already well established before considering regulation.

I removed the redundant concluding paragraph (which repeated the idea of anticipating rather than following) while keeping the concrete recommendation (not to authorize placing on the market) directly linked to the mention of the TPD consultation.

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE

[1] New growth market: orally soluble tobacco products, Tabaknee, published on August 17, 2026, accessed the same day

[2] Other tobacco products, US Food and Drug Administration