The vaping and e-cigarette market has expanded vastly to meet demand in recent years, as vaping has becoming a growing international trend. More and more consumers are now giving up smoking or working on reducing their nicotine intake. Following the increasing popularity of new health trends, such as clean eating, new workout regimes and embracing wellness, comes awareness from consumers about the foods they consumer, hobbies they partake in and the effects this all has on their bodies.
As a result of this, the e-cigarette and vaping market has continued to change with the times and with it bring about new innovations. For instance, Pascal Culverhouse, CEO of Electric Tobacconist, says the advances in vaping technology has allowed producers to create products which are more versatile and user friendly. ‘We have seen more products launching featuring disposable liquid pods, which allow users to easily dispose and replace old pods instead of constantly having to refill with liquid.’
To help consumers reduce and eliminate their nicotine intake, there is a variety of liquid strengths available. The growing popularity of Stoptober has created an environment and attitude that smoking is essentially unfashionable and allowed for products such as vape pens to become a more acceptable lifestyle choice, adds Culverhouse.
‘As vape pens and box mods are increasing in popularity, we have also seen a greater demand for personalisation in the market. There are thousands of products available for consumers to choose from and the options are endless. Consumers now have the choice to build their vape or box mods from scratch beyond selecting a unique flavour liquid, this includes coils, tanks and atomisers.
‘It’s an exciting time for the e-cigarette and vape market and it will be interesting to see what changes come in over the next few years.’
What is behind the rapid growth of the ‘vaping’ industry?
E-cigarettes are on the rise, there’s no denying it. Just last year, e-cig use had grown by 24 per cent on the previous year, with 2.6 million adults using them in the UK alone. What’s behind this rapid growth? It could be the report that Public Health England released stating that e-cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes by up to 95 per cent, or it could have been the relaxed laws around the usage of them.
While we can speculate on this, the fact remains that sales continue to surge. In the UK, the e-cigarette industry has become one of the fastest-growing supermarket products by volume and value, with a 50 per cent year on year increase to around 17.3 million units last year as more and more people become aware and interested in the technology. Whether these users are turning to them as a quitting aid to regular tobacco cigarettes or as a healthier alternative is a source of debate but the figures speak for themselves, e-cigarettes are on the up.
While the online marketplace is at bursting point, more and more stores are showing up on the high street to cash in on the trend too. But is this rapid growth sustainable?
The ‘Global E Cigarette & Vaporizer Market – Analysis & Forecast Through 2015 to 2025‘ report speculates that the industry will continue to grow globally at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 22 per cent from 2015 to 2025, witnessing a monumental growth until 2017 when it is forecast that regulatory and policy framework will be in place across the globe. In this ten-year period it is theorised that the industry will grow by $50 billion – a staggering amount of money.
The affect of market regulatio
But is regulation and policy the biggest stumbling block between e-cigarettes dominating the nicotine landscape and disappearing in a puff of its own vape?
In May, the Tobacco Products Directive will be reassessed by member states of the European Union to further regulate the production and sale of e-cigarettes across the continent. On the agenda includes new limitations on the size of e-liquid, a limit on the size of tanks/clearomisers, and nicotine strength being limited to 20mg to restrict potential nicotine poisoning. Perhaps the biggest regulation being tabled for the Tobacco Products Directive is prohibiting nicotine dosage, meaning that e-cigarettes will have to provide a consistent nicotine dose rather than dosage being dependant on the way the e-liquid is inhaled.
Though on paper these changes to regulation wouldn’t have any major impact on the overall e-cigarette industry, one cause for concern is a caveat that if a ‘competent authority’ such as a healthcare professional convinces three EU countries to ban an e-cigarette product – whether it’s a tank or a brand of e-liquid – on grounds of it being a potential health risk, then that product will have to be banned across the entire European Union. Scary stuff.
Be that as it may, several investment firms are closely monitoring the e-cigarette industry with the CAGR being an enticing prospect for them and projected income being a major temptation.
Edward Swain writes on behalf of Vape Superstore.
