Top Takeaways:
- BAT reverses course: After years of opposing unauthorized disposable vapes in the U.S., British American Tobacco is preparing to launch its own synthetic‑nicotine disposable under the Vuse One brand.
- Regulatory gray zone: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stresses that a pending application does not authorize sales; marketing without a license remains unlawful, despite enforcement delays.
- Industry-wide recalibration: With unauthorized disposables capturing a multibillion‑dollar segment, major players like BAT and Altria are shifting strategies amid mounting regulatory pressure and lost market share.
British American Tobacco (BAT) is making a sharp turn in its U.S. strategy, moving into the very disposable vape market it once sought to shut down. After years of lobbying lawmakers and pressing courts to crack down on unauthorized devices, the maker of Vuse products is preparing to launch its own synthetic-nicotine disposable in America, the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives.
Luis Pinto, a spokesman for BAT’s U.S. unit Reynolds American, told Reuters the move is about protecting the company’s business in a sector it can no longer afford to avoid. “Not having access to this world weighs on our company’s bottom line,” Pinto said, adding that its new product, Vuse One, will undergo pilot sales beginning in late September or early October.
The device uses lab-produced nicotine and has a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pending with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Brian King of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids blasted the plan as “illegal and dangerous,” while the trade group American Vapor Manufacturers accused BAT of showing “breathtaking audacity” by rolling out Vuse One after years spent attacking rivals for the same tactic.
Investors, however, were more pragmatic. Abax Investments said the strategy could strengthen BAT’s revenue position at a time when U.S. regulators are stepping up pressure on unauthorized imports.
The shift underscores just how dramatically the U.S. vape market has changed. Disposable vapes—many of them unauthorized imports from Chinese manufacturers—have exploded in popularity. BAT estimates the segment accounted for about £6 billion ($8 billion) in sales last year, or 70 percent of the entire vaping market.
Research firm Circana pegged 2024 retail sales of illicit flavored disposables at $2.4 billion, about 35 percent of the market in convenience and grocery channels.
BAT and other tobacco giants argue they are being undercut by illegal competitors while awaiting FDA approval for their products. “We should not be disadvantaged while illicit actors … take over the market,” a spokesperson for Altria said, signaling its own change of stance on synthetic nicotine.
The FDA, however, has been clear that BAT’s approach is not legally sanctioned. “All new tobacco products … that are on the U.S. market without the statutorily required premarket authorisation from the FDA are marketed unlawfully,” the agency told Reuters, stressing that a pending application “does not create a legal safe harbour to sell a product.”
Pinto countered that BAT’s approach differs from the illicit market because its disposables will be sold through national retail chains, follow stricter marketing policies and undergo internal due diligence. “It’s not about, if you can’t beat them, join them,” he said.
Meanwhile, enforcement has been patchy. Earlier this month, the U.S. Postal Service suspended shipping privileges for Demand Vape, a leading distributor accused of sending unauthorized products into New York City despite flavor bans. The move was seen as a win for Big Tobacco, which relies on more tightly controlled distribution channels.
