PouchDaily topic
VELO nicotine pouch news, launches, market share and British American Tobacco coverage.
market
UK now has more vapers than smokers — and nicotine pouches are nextGreat Britain just crossed a historic threshold: 5.4 million adults now vape, outnumbering the 4.8 million who still smoke. Nicotine pouches are following the same trajectory.
market
BAT just mapped out 2030 — and Velo Plus is now 30% of the US pouch marketAt its Capital Markets Day, BAT put modern oral at the center of Horizon 2030: mid-teens New Category revenue growth, 30% contribution margin by 2030, and Velo Plus at a 30% US share as the No. 2 behind ZYN.
market
BAT Survey: UK Vape Rules Could Hit Pouch Sales Through Retail DisruptionBritish American Tobacco warns that incoming UK vape restrictions—flavor bans, plain packaging, display limits—could make it harder for retailers to manage nicotine pouch inventory and lead to missed sales.
market
Philip Morris just gave up a fast-release nicotine pouch patent after a BAT challengePMI relinquished its patent for fast-release nicotine pouches following a challenge from British American Tobacco, a European appeals panel confirmed this week. The speed-of-release race between ZYN and Velo just lost one of its fences.
market
BAT Targets 30% Margin on Modern Nicotine by 2030British American Tobacco said its New Category division—which includes nicotine pouches—will hit at least 30% contribution margin by decade's end, with revenue growing mid-teens annually.
market
Velo is about to be in every major Japanese convenience storeBAT Japan will stock three Velo Medium products in all Ministop stores from October 5, completing nationwide coverage across 7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart and NewDays.
market
BAT commits to mid-teens New Category growth through 2030 — with Velo front and centerAt its Capital Markets Day in Winston-Salem, BAT targeted mid-teens New Category revenue growth and a 30%+ contribution margin by 2030, while guiding 2026 growth to the lower end of its ranges.
regulation
Ireland's festival cigarette ban skipped nicotine pouches — industry ran giveaways at three major eventsVelo and Nordic Spirit ran free-tin stands at Electric Picnic and other Irish festivals this summer, exploiting a legal gap: Ireland's ban on selling cigarettes and vapes at temporary premises doesn't cover pouches. The pouch bill introducing under-18 sales restrictions can be enacted after 7 October.
market
On! Pouch Volume Hits 47.2M Cans — But Share Still Falls as ZYN and Velo Outpace Altria's GrowthAltria's On! Plus rollout drove Q2 volume to 47.2 million cans, yet On!'s retail share dropped to 13.9% in H1 2026 (down from 16.8% a year earlier) as the $13.4B pouch category grows faster than On! can capture it.
market
VELO adds Mexico, Spain and Sweden editions to its travel-retail pouch collectionBAT Global Travel Retail has added three summer editions to the VELO Traveller’s Collection — a nicotine pouch line sold exclusively in airports and duty-free. The Mexico and Spain editions feature Tropical Ice; Sweden gets Peppermint Storm. The expansion follows Japan, UAE, UK and Qatar editions launched earlier this year.
wellbeing
The wellness rebrand of nicotine pouches — and why doctors are pushing backDave Asprey says nicotine can reverse Alzheimer's. Tucker Carlson called ZYN 'lifesaving.' A wave of wellness influencers is reframing nicotine pouches as a 'natural' health hack — and researchers say the claims are outpacing the evidence by a wide margin.
market
VELO put a music festival on its nicotine pouchesBritish American Tobacco's flagship nicotine-pouch brand VELO has launched a limited-edition Mango Ice pouch in packaging licensed from Tomorrowland, the Belgian electronic-dance-music festival. It's the clearest example yet of pouch brands borrowing the festival-merch playbook to stand out on a crowded shelf.
market
Pouches make 8× the unit profit of cigarettes — Big Tobacco noticesA Reuters analysis reveals PMI's U.S. nicotine pouch business generates 8 times the gross profit per thousand units of its international cigarette business. BAT forecasts the pouch market reaching £11 billion by 2030 — overtaking vapes. But can the category travel beyond Scandinavia and the U.S.?
science
The biggest lab test of nicotine pouches yet found 90% fewer toxicants than snusA BAT-funded study in BMC Chemistry measured 132 chemicals across 11 nicotine pouches, two snus products and cigarette-smoke data. Pouches came out with fewer detectable toxicants and over 90% lower levels than snus in most tests — but nine of the pouches tested were Velo, made by the funder.
regulation
Kenya’s Sh4.5bn VELO lawsuit tests whether its tobacco law covers nicotine pouchesBAT Kenya faces a Sh4.5 billion constitutional petition over how it marketed VELO nicotine pouches, and has asked the High Court to strike it out. The case is the first real test of whether Kenya’s cigarette-era Tobacco Control Act can reach a smokeless pouch.
science
Can nicotine pouches help you quit smoking? The science isn't there yet.The first Cochrane review of oral nicotine pouches as a quitting aid found only four tiny studies covering 284 people — and rated its confidence in the findings as 'very low'. Here's what we actually know.
market
BAT Half-Year Report: VELO Is Driving the Modern Oral PushBAT says Modern Oral revenue rose 65.9% in the first half, putting VELO at the center of its smokeless growth strategy.
market
Denmark Bans Flavored Nicotine Pouches Starting April 2026 — First EU Country to Do SoDenmark just became the first EU country to ban non-tobacco flavored nicotine pouches. ZYN, VELO, and White Fox brands will be limited to tobacco flavor only starting April 2026.