Tobacco Business

[ 68 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MAY / JUNE | 21 ] are subject to FDA regulations. NIIN’s nicotine is entirely synthetic, so it’s outside of the scope of the FDA’s regulatory purview. While we believe NIIN pouches would be eligible for a modified-risk order, we have been advised that seeking said designation could possibly open us up to being classified as a tobacco product, which we obviously aren’t. Until regulation on tobacco becomes clearer, we intend on waiting for a path and understanding of how TFN plays into the market and FDA.” NIIN being tobacco-free and unhindered by the regulatory requirements that other tobacco products face is a big opportunity in the eyes of Mulcahy and his team. As a company, NIIN continues to watch the regulatory guidelines closely and is learning how those new developments can benefit the company and consumers. For now, the focus is getting NIIN into national and regional gas stations and convenience stores across the U.S. NIIN is also targeting independent retailers, including premium tobacconists. “There are some compelling reasons for folks that stock premium cigars and pipe tobacco to carry NIIN. Let’s start with the astounding growth rate in the nicotine pouch category. Chances are they currently have customers that are using pouches, and if they aren’t stocking them, those customers are making their purchases from other retailers,” says Mulcahy. “Now let’s talk about convenience. When are you going to light up an Opus X? If you are like me, it’s going to be when you are in the right place and have some time to relax and enjoy it. But if you are also like me, I don’t often find the right place and the right time to enjoy it as often as I’d like. NIIN bridges that gap. It allows the busy cigar aficionado to get a quick dose of a pleasant flavor and some nicotine any time or place whenever they want.” NIIN offers its distributors and retail partners different merchandising options to support and encourage sales. Every order of NIIN ships with a new retailer kit that includes 12” by 12” and 3” by 5” window clings, 3” by 3” counter and door stickers, as well as tent cards and shelf talkers. NIIN also offers some eye-catching product displays that come preloaded with 50 cans of NIIN. Knowing the importance of a deal, NIIN is offering a buy-down a launch offer so that its products will be available to consumers at a competitive price while also offering an attractive margin to both retailers and distributors. Endless Possibilities Mulcahy is certain of one thing: The future of the tobacco industry is tied closely to innovation. Companies seeking and hoping for success will have to continually innovate and do business differently than they have in the past, much like Mulcahy and his company have. For Mulcahy, the future is harm reduction as tobacco products like combustible cigarettes continue to fall out of favor with many adult consumers. “Cigarettes may never be gone, as the culture of smoking has stood the test of time, but with options like e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and TFN, the opportunities to provide more in value and longevity to our customers will be drivers in redefining the tobacco industry,” he explains. “We do not need tobacco to get the effect provided by nicotine. Giving consumers their desired dose of nicotine with far less risk is a wonderful thing. I think most people would agree with that.” Innovation remains top of mind at NIIN. Currently, NIIN is nearing the completion of the development of a TFN disposable vape pen that will be launched under the NIIN brand. NIIN will manufacture the e-liquid within the U.S., and the filing and final assembly of the device will also take place in America. With many vapor products and e-liquids coming out of China, having the production of its own products take place here in America was important to Mulcahy and NIIN’s team because it adds both product integrity and traceability to their products. NIIN is also looking at bringing additional TFN products to the market. For NIIN, innovation will continue to drive all of its efforts to introduce safer nicotine alternative products to the market—and the possibilities of what’s to come is endless. TB WHAT IS TFN? NIIN, a tobacco-free nicotine pouch product, is made with TFN (tobacco-free nicotine), which is a synthetic nicotine product. NIIN CEO and founder Patrick Mulcahy views TFN products as the future of nicotine. So what exactly is TFN? TFN is manufactured at an industrial scale at a current Good Manufacturing Practices-approved pharmaceutical synthetic ingredient manufacturing facility. TFN is not a lab-engineered nicotine; it is produced at a scale similar to other high-quality pharma ingredients. The process for making synthetic nicotine is complex but begins with a simple non-tobacco starter material. The material is then carefully processed to break apart the chemical bonds into specific compounds that can then be fused together to produce an identical nicotine molecule. The process involving the manufacturing of TFN results in a nicotine purity in excess of 99.5 percent, which exceeds the USP standard for tobacco-derived nicotine. TFN synthetic nicotine is free of the known tobacco residuals that would typically be found in tobacco leaf nicotine, such as tobacco-specific nitrosamines.