Nicotine pouches: Vape Business tries out a market leader

The pouch market has been one the big winners in the next generation nicotine product category over the past 12 months.

Major brands such as ZYN, VELO and Nordic Spirit have gained popularity among consumers with retailers reporting strong sales for a category that simply didn’t exist in the UK a few short years ago.

So, what is using a nicotine pouch like? Vape Business decided to try out one of the market leaders – Swedish Match’s ZYN brand – to learn more.

The first thing to say is that nicotine pouches offer an impressively economical way of getting your nicotine fix. Each pouch can last for up to an hour and each pack contains 20 pouches for around £6 per pack.

Each pouch is also small. For the uninitiated, the idea of going about your business with a pouch tucked under your top lip sounds awkward but this isn’t the case. As the pouch – and let’s not beat about the bush – gets wet inside your mouth, it’s possible to quickly get used to the sensation and almost forget it is there. That’s except for the tingling sensation the pouch provides, which is the equivalent of nicotine hit a user gets from the ‘draw’ of a vape.

So, nicotine pouches offer a substantially different experience to that of vaping but, most importantly, do they satisfy nicotine cravings?

The answer is that by having a pouch releasing its nicotine over a longer period, users can ‘switch off’ from their addiction for the ten minutes or one hour that the product is in your mouth. There’s not the same dopamine-inducing ‘hit’ that makes vaping (and let’s be honest, cigarettes) such a treat. Yet with nicotine pouches able to be used in gyms, aeroplanes and offices, pouches will play an absolutely vital role for many as smokers move away from tobacco for good.