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TOBACCO BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2014
yet a threat for [c-store and tobacco] retailers, these new
shops are definitely on retailers’ radar screens. Bottom
line, retailers continue to embrace the e-cig/e-vapor
categories.”
One retailer quoted in the Tobacco Talk survey
remarking on his tank business said, “It is outpacing
all traditional e-cigs in sales with higher margins, and
consumer satisfaction is amazing.”
Another stated, “It looks like a growth segment we
can’t ignore.”
Perhaps the issue that ties both regulation concerns
and device concerns together is the debate over who is
running this industry: Big Tobacco, or the little guys.
It’s no secret that all the major cigarette makers are
now in the e-cig category.In fact,Altria recently boosted
its presence by announcing that its NuMark subsidiary
will acquire Green Smoke. Altria also launched its
MarkTen e-cig in a test market in Indiana last August.
Reynolds American is selling its Vuse brand e-cig
in test markets in Colorado and Utah; it is expected to
become available nationally by mid-2014. Lorillard was
the first major player in the market with its acquisition
of blu eCigs in April 2012.Herzog estimates that these
three players will weather about a 50 percent reduction
in conventional cigarette revenues by 2023—a fact
that is probably driving their respective moves into
e-cigarettes.
However, while these companies with deep
pockets have brought much attention to the category,
they are also behind some of the confusion. Part of
the misinformation being fed to legislators, health
advocates, and even to some consumers is that Big
Tobacco is running the show, and that the public needs
to be protected from Big Tobacco once again. This is
simply not the case, says SFATA’s Cabrera.
“This industry was built well before [Big Tobacco]
got in,”she points out.“Government should understand
that Big Tobacco is not driving this industry and they
didn’t build this industry.This vape industry was built
by small- and medium-sized companies that are
creating jobs and generating taxes for cities across the
country.”
TB
With cities like New York City and Chicago proposing to ban
e-cigarette use in public places, it opens up the question: Will e-cig
bans become as commonplace as bans on traditional cigarettes?
Market research firm Harris Interactive’s 2014 American E-Cigarette
Etiquette Survey, commissioned by North Carolina-based e-cig
company Ballantyne Brands, indicates that they will not. After polling
over 1,000 adults by phone in December 2013, the study found that 63
percent of the respondents, including 71 percent of men and 55 percent
of women, said that someone using an e-cig in close proximity would
not bother them. Only one-quarter of the respondents said that they
would object to someone using an e-cig nearby. Below are more stats
from the survey.
Total respondent approval rate for e-cig use at:
Sporting events
Malls
Restaurants and bars
Offices
Public transportation
Movie theaters
Airplanes
58%
47%
45%
35%
35%
29%
26%
Respondent approval rate by gender for e-cig use at:
Men
Women
Men
Women
Restaurants and bars
Sporting Events
52%
38%
65%
51%
Respondent approval rate by age for someone using an e-cig nearby:
18-34
65 and up
70%
46%
