Tobacco Business just happened to catch up with Jacopo D’Alessandris, president of E-Alternative Solutions (EAS), on the momentous day of Aug. 8, 2016–the first in a series of FDA deadlines with which the newly regulated vapor industry must cope. Like his peers in the vapor industry, D’Alessandris was in the midst of strategizing with his team for the regulatory environment. But unlike many, he was also optimistic.
“There’s a lot going on, but we are feeling pretty good,” he said. “We knew this was coming. We knew that this kind of completely unregulated world would not last, and that this plethora of brand and products and the vape shops wouldn’t last either. That’s one of the reasons we created EAS.”
EAS was launched in February 2015 after observing the vapor market for several years. While the company began marketings its Liquid Soul line shortly thereafter, it’s only now, in a post-regulatory environment, that its long-term strategic plan can unfurl. Even as EAS seeks to position itself in the evolving market, D’Alessandris expects the landscape underfoot to continue to shift.
We knew that this kind of completely unregulated world would not last, and that this plethora of brand and products and the vape shops wouldn’t last either. That’s one of the reasons we created EAS.
“There will be lawsuits and legislative efforts that will help shape the regulations, and we are supporting efforts to change the predicate date,” he says. “There are other parts of the regulations that are clearly overreaching, and they are likely to be shaped by litigation. That has been the case in the past when such a wide net is cast. They had to do that because of political pressure, but they also knew these regulations would be progressively reduced and narrowed down by litigation. FDA is used to that; it is a way for them to operate.”
