April 9, 2024
First unveiled last autumn, the Sky Hunter Slim has hit the retail market and is already enjoying ‘unprecedented demand’ in specialist vape shops and convenience stores, brand owner Happy Vibes has said.
The research and development team at Happy Vibes have spent three years perfecting the reusable device. The result is a new, fully compliant product with more features than a disposable device but just as easy to use, providing all-day usage on a single charge and minimising its ecological footprint.
The Sky Hunter Slim’s innovative and patented rotary structure seamlessly switches between flavours by twisting between four 2ml pods within a single device. With the capability of being recharged up to 300 times, it also significantly diminishes the environmental footprint compared to single-use vapes.
Happy Vibes founder Jonathan Jiang said he could see the direction that government policy was heading as disposable devices attracted increasing negativity from the public and special interest groups because of their adverse impact on youth vaping and the environment.
“Disposables have done an amazing job in helping to get people off smoking and the decline in smoking prevalence highlights this. However, disposables were doing more harm than good for the reputation of the industry. That’s why we have waited until now when the market was ripe for an alternative to roll out our new pioneering solution across the retail sector,” Jiang said.
“While the rest of the industry was concentrating on the disposable market, we perfected our design for a far superior and more environmentally reusable device and secured the necessary patents and approvals to be fully compliant for the UK market.
“We recognised the potential of the Sky Hunter Slim when we saw the response from buyers at the Vaper Expo in October. Their overwhelmingly positive reception affirmed the value of the time and effort invested in developing this product, recognising the significant impact and market readiness of our innovation.
“Reusable devices have always represented the best value for money for consumers over the long term, but our product, with four flavours in one, four 2ml tanks, 2,600 puffs, and a USB-C charging port, now takes things to a new level.”
Michiel Carmel, Happy Vibes’ business development manager, said early sales data confirmed that, when presented with the right alternative, there was little resistance in persuading consumers to switch from disposables.
He said: “Consumers value ease of use, which is why disposables proved to be so popular in the first place. We can’t see any reason why vaping should be any more complex in the post-disposable landscape, which is why the Sky Hunter Slim can be used straight out of the box with no set-up required.
“Environmental concerns were also very important when we created this device. We now have a brand-new product that is a direct replacement for the disposable market. The huge difference is that this is rechargeable, and that makes it a responsible choice. This literally is responsible innovation with a twist.
“Our customers’ feedback is that they want a device that lasts all day, has great flavours from start to finish, and can be used over and over again.”
Carmel said FMCG buyers are already looking at alternatives to disposables on the back of the likely ban on disposables in 2025 and said the new product ticked all the boxes.
“From the initial reaction at Vaper Expo to the consistently strong orders since then, it is clear that we are bringing out the right product, at the right time and with the right technology to fill the void left by the withdrawal of disposable devices,” he added.