Disposable dilemma, Zero nicotine rise, change-bomb heating... Since the beginning of this year, with the development of electronic cigarette(Heatstick manufacturer) products, more and more hot topics have appeared around electronic cigarettes. Among them, Spain is also concerned as an emerging market for electronic cigarettes(Heated tabaco supplier). At the same time that various brands are competing to settle in, the format and regulatory measures of electronic cigarettes in Spain have also caused hot discussion, which has brought new thinking to the development direction of electronic cigarettes.

According to statistics agency “STATISTA”, the Spanish E-cigarette market is expected to reach 200 million euros in 2023, and the number of E-cigarette users will reach 2.4 million, accounting for 5% of the total population. In the Spanish market, open E-cigarettes were the first category to rise, but in the summer of 2022, disposable E-cigarettes rose rapidly, replacing the dominant position of open E-cigarettes. What are the characteristics and trends of this alternating market development? What role does regulation play in the market?

In this regard, at the electronic cigarette exhibition held in Madrid, Spain, on June 3-4, the reporter visited and investigated a number of brands, distributors and local retailers participating in the exhibition, from which to explore the characteristics and trends of the Spanish market.

Disposable products suddenly rise but no "No.1"

However, despite the hot market for disposable E-cigarettes, no brand has been able to dominate for a long time. According to an employee of a Shisha shop, there are many globally renowned disposable E-cigarette brands in the Spanish market, such as ELFBAR, LOST MARY, which dominates the UK and US markets, ELUX, which ranks in the top 10 in the UK, and HQD, which used to lead in Russia. However, after these brands entered the Spanish market, they did not become the market leader. Not having an absolute market leader is a good thing, because it means that every brand has a chance to succeed.

Zero nicotine products "born on demand" industry status is becoming increasingly prominent

At the Spanish E-cigarette exhibition, it was found that zero nicotine(herbal heatsticks producer) products have a significant position in the market - almost all mainstream disposable E-cigarette brands have launched zero nicotine products in Spain. For example, well-known E-cigarette brands ELFBAR and WAKA mainly sell Zero nicotine products in Spain, ELUX has also entered the Spanish market by launching Zero nicotine products.

Why are Zero nicotine products popular in Spain? In response to this question, a number of brands gave some views:

Zero nicotine products are not regulated by the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Before nicotine-containing products pass TPD certification, manufacturers can launch Zero nicotine products to enter the market ahead of time.

Zero nicotine products are not regulated by TPD, so large quantities of products can be produced. Compared with the limit of only 600 nib containing products, Zero nicotine products have obvious advantages.

Zero nicotine products do not contain nicotine, so they appeal to many people who want to experience a suction device but do not want to become addicted, especially young women.

However, Rody, head of ELUX Spain, is not optimistic about the long-term development of Zero nicotine products. He believes that although the current sales of Zero nicotine products are good, Zero nicotine products are not addictive and lack customer loyalty, and he is more optimistic about the development of Nicotine-containing products in the future.

In the UK market, where zero nicotine products have also risen, there have been a number of reports of nicotine detection in zero nicotine products recently. For this kind of incident, there are brand owners who do not want to disclose the name said that there may also be zero nicotine products in Spain.

Open and change-over cartridging have risen by a one-time trend

"Open lost its dominant position in the Spanish E-cigarette market in 2021." A Shisha shop staff said that with the rise of disposable E-cigarette products, the dominance of open products has been replaced.

However, June, the Spanish head of VAPORESSO, an open brand owned by Simol, disagrees. June believes that the rise of disposable E-cigarettes has actually promoted the development of open products. "Although the market share of open products is not as large as that of disposable products, the sales of open products are actually growing."

"" VAPORESSO, for example, doubled its sales from the previous year after disposable products became popular." " June said that disposable products, as one of the choices for consumers to get started, will also stimulate their interest in open products, which in turn will promote the growth of open products.

Miette, a regular at local E-cigarette shop Vapemoniadas, agrees that most people who initially use single-use E-cigarettes will eventually switch to cartridge and open-end products, as both cost much less than single-use E-cigarettes.

E-cigarette vending machine, tobacco store goods...... How does regulation affect the Spanish market?

When I first arrived in Madrid, it was obvious that there were more tobacco shops than E-cigarette shops in the region." In 2019, there were seven or eight vape shops around, but now we are the only three left." Skyvap vaping shop staff said that the number of vaping shops is decreasing.

"The laws regulating E-cigarettes in Spain will become more and more stringent, and E-cigarettes may be included in the tobacco regulatory system within the next two years." Juan, the Spanish head of disposable E-cigarette brand Ole, said that in order to adapt to the regulation, they have started to stock in tobacco shops.

According to a set of data provided by the respondents, there are a total of 16,000 tobacco shops in Spain, and nearly half of them are willing to sell E-cigarettes. However, it is not easy to open a tobacco shop in Spain, Mevol's Spanish country manager Roberto said that Spain adopts a tobacco monopoly system, the cost of opening a tobacco shop is very high, hundreds of thousands of euros to millions of euros, and each person can only open one.

In addition, the reporter also found that some tobacco shops have electronic cigarette vending machines at the door, and many exhibitors of the exhibition have displayed their own electronic cigarette self-service vending machines. Asked the reason, because the vending machine has no relevant regulatory policies, you can directly sell electronic cigarettes, which is much more convenient than opening a shop.

"Whether E-cigarettes will be included in the tobacco system depends on whether there is a change of political parties in Spain." Julio Ruades, the head of the Spanish Association of E-cigarette Consumers (ANESVAP), said that the retention of this term of political party personnel directly determines the direction of E-cigarette regulation.

Julio also shared the news of the provincial and regional elections that just took place at the end of May, where "the incumbent ruling party (PSOE), which supported the ban on E-cigarette flavors and proposed the inclusion of E-cigarettes in the tobacco system, lost many votes." So if the July election changes the ruling party, the E-cigarette law is likely to be put on hold."