Sadly, over half of smokers wrongly think vaping is equally or more harmful than traditional cigarettes.
This unfortunate misconception means both the reduced risk products industry and the government have the duty to inform the public that vaping is almost certainly less harmful than cigarettes.
Juul Labs is investing in clinical and behavioural studies to help prevent the spread of misinformation.
Melissa Wisdom, Managing Director of Juul Labs, tells Grocery Trader how the public perception of vaping can be improved and what regulatory challenges the industry faces.
It’s been a year since you took office, what has been the major challenge and what have you been most proud of?
One of the things I am most proud of is bringing together a team totally committed to the harm reduction potential of JUUL2 and other smoking alternatives. Smoking remains the leading cause of premature death and disease in the UK, and we have to do all we can to help adult smokers transition away from cigarettes. I grew up with a mother who was a smoker, and I remember when I was young, begging her every day to quit.
So, I’m really invested in helping adult smokers move away from tobacco for their own health – and for their families – and we have a fantastic team that shares this goal.
The biggest challenge? I would say the proliferation of cheap, low-quality products on the market. As a company, you want to set out a range of objectives not only commercially but, in our space, to be socially responsible. To achieve these goals, you have to have strong regulatory goalposts to make sure all vaping brands play by the same rules and meet high standards. If these are uncertain or poorly enforced, it makes it harder for responsible actors to compete and to support the government’s public health objectives. Through the UK Government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the coming years will offer greater clarity. We’re looking to stay on the right side of those regulations with JUUL’s responsible packaging, clear naming conventions, and adult-focussed flavour range.
How has JUUL2 performed over the year?
Over the past year, JUUL2 has achieved its highest market share in three years, with significant sales growth within the grocery sector. Specifically, in the tobacco and menthol segment, we are the #2 brand overall and proudly hold the #1 refill pod SKU with Crisp Menthol. However, recognising the need to reach a broader base of adult smokers, we realised that we can play a bigger role in the fruit flavour sector. Fruit flavours account for 80% of category sales and play a key role in making vaping products appealing to adults, with half of adult vapers using fruit flavours in 2024. That’s why we have brought four new fruit flavours to market: Mango, Apple, Watermelon, and Lychee.
We also have an exceptionally loyal customer base. To provide some key metrics, JUUL2 shoppers dedicate up to 75% of their vape spend exclusively to JUUL2. They purchase pods five times per fortnight – a higher frequency than our competitors – and our customers boast the highest average spend in the category. This directly translates to increased footfall and repeat purchases for our retail partners.
What challenges does the industry face from a regulatory point of view?
The regulatory landscape presents both challenges and opportunities. We’ve seen significant shifts, such as the ban on disposables, and at Juul Labs, we are supportive of initiatives that combat youth use and raise standards across the market. It’s crucial to strike a balance between combating youth use and ensuring adult smokers have a viable alternative to cigarettes.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which Juul Labs supports, provides a clear set of powers, and their effectiveness will depend on how forcefully and dynamically they are implemented. We are certainly watching this space with interest. Ultimately, our goal is a well-regulated market of high-quality, responsibly designed products to support adult smokers in their journey to switch.
Research has suggested that vaping is no longer seen by the majority as a less harmful alternative to smoking. How can this be addressed?
The biggest challenge keeping me awake at night is the pervasive public misconception about the relative harm of vaping compared to smoking. Over 50% of smokers now mistakenly believe that vaping is equally or more harmful than traditional cigarettes. This is despite the scientific and health consensus: while vaping is not risk-free, it is widely considered less harmful than cigarettes.
To combat this, industry and government alike have a responsibility to educate consumers – and the public more broadly – that tobacco and nicotine-containing products exist on a continuum of risk. Juul Labs invests heavily in clinical and behavioural studies of its own – it is crucial that this research adheres to a robust framework and findings are not over-interpreted. This will help prevent the spread of misinformation.
Do you think the disposable ban has worked in terms of recycling and youth access? What is JUUL doing to reduce the environmental impact of its products and curb youth use?
The single-use vapes ban has an excellent intention behind it; namely, addressing youth use and curbing environmental waste. However, the reality we observe daily, both on the ground and in our data, indicates that the category has adapted. We now see products that consumers continue to treat as disposables. Many products still closely resemble and are priced like their disposable predecessors, and there are also practical challenges in physically removing or finding replacement pods.
At Juul, we are committed to ensuring our products are managed responsibly throughout their life cycle. Our device is designed for longevity, underscored by its two-year warranty. We have also partnered with TerraCycle – a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle materials – to provide a free and convenient recycling solution for used JUUL2 pods. This programme allows users to easily order a free return bag online, send back their used pods, and have them responsibly processed and recycled into new usable materials, helping to reduce waste going to landfills and incinerators.
What are the plans for the JUUL brand moving forward?
Our brand’s future is focused on our mission to help adult smokers switch from traditional cigarettes, without appealing to young people. A significant step in this direction is the recent launch of four new JUUL2 pod flavours: Mango, Apple, Watermelon, and Lychee. We’ve given careful thought to the new flavour names, purposefully using clear, single descriptors to mitigate youth appeal and communicate the flavour clearly to adult consumers.
Research consistently shows that adult consumers have a preference for fruit flavours, which can play a crucial role in helping adult smokers successfully transition away from traditional cigarettes. We’ve invested heavily in R&D, and I’ve personally witnessed the positive reception of these new flavours during consumer panels, which gives me confidence that we’ve achieved the right profiles.
Moving forward, we will continue to closely monitor research, category trends, consumer preferences, and the regulatory direction of travel to guide our development of new-to-market products, all aligned with our core mission of providing attractive options for adult smokers while strictly avoiding any appeal to youth.
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