Select convenience store customers are choosing to opt out of nicotine — which is all the reason retailers need to begin stocking nicotine-free options. As the Food and Drug Administration looks to evaluate maximum nicotine levels in cigarettes, nicotine-free smokes offer an appealing alternative that flies under the regulatory radar, and it might be appealing…
NYACS’ Sopris Talks Tobacco Regulation and Engaging Legislators
As c-stores battle tobacco regulations, state associations like the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) are on the frontlines with retailers working to educate legislators about how proposed laws would impact the convenience store business. Fighting tobacco legislation starts at the local level. The groups in favor of tobacco legislation are vocal opponents, and…
Vape Generates $7 Billion for C-Stores
The vape category continues to cope with regulatory shifts, including ongoing premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) uncertainty. While some retailers are bullish on the category, recent data from Circana highlights challenges for the segment. Between April 23, 2022, and April 23, 2023, electronic smoking devices — including e-cigarettes, vape kits and mods, for example —…
FDA Provides Update on Proposed Tobacco Regulations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of a Spring 2023 Regulatory Agenda issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, released updates on pending tobacco regulations, according to a National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) newsletter. NATO outlined the following FDA updates:…
Spitless Tobacco Unit Sales Boosted 30.4%
Smokeless tobacco sales at c-stores continue to rise, lifted by sales of tobacco-free nicotine pouches as sales of moist smokeless tobacco dip. As they look ahead, retailers are watching flavor regulations as well as inflationary pressures that are pushing customers to trade down both within the smokeless segment and the tobacco category as a whole.…
Cigarettes Notch Over $54 Billion in Sales at C-Stores
There are many ways to assess the state of the cigarette category within the convenience store industry. On one hand, there’s no denying the customer base continues to tighten. In late April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its latest findings of smoking rates and concluded that only 11% of adults currently…
Tobacco Sales Remain in the Billions, Despite Price Surges
As the battle against Big Tobacco continues to wage, c-store retailers are bracing against pending Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, an onslaught of state and local legislation and rising inflation, all the while working to adjust their backbars to comply with the latest mandates and still maximize sales. As potential restrictions from FDA on…
Smoking Accessories Set to Hit $6.3 Billion by 2030
Tobacco accessories are holding their own in c-stores despite ongoing inflation and price increases in the segment and across the tobacco categories. In fact, many convenience store retailers spy an opportunity to expand business in the accessories segment inside the 22 states (plus Washington, D.C.) where adults can buy or possess cannabis recreationally. The convenience…
Tobacco’s Tumultuous Road
In 2009, a few months after I joined CStore Decisions magazine (CSD), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given the authority to regulate tobacco products when the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law that June. That August it launched the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). In the 14 years…
Unpacking FDA’s Very Low Nicotine Plan
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted earlier this year that its proposed very low nicotine regulation could be published by this fall. While a comment period and review would follow, if the regulation were to go into effect, it would prohibit the sale of almost all cigarettes currently on the market. Background In July…