Key points:
1. The nicotine pouch VELO, under the BAT (British American Tobacco) brand, saw a 185% year-on-year increase in sales in the US market, with a market share of 7.9%.
2. Velo Plus was launched only 12 weeks ago, capturing a market share of 5.4%.
3. ZYN's market share has dropped to 55%, while Philip Morris International (PMI) claimed that its actual share was higher and growing faster than the overall market.
2Firsts, reporting from Shenzhen - NielsenIQ report shows British American Tobacco's Velo nicotine pouch sales in the U.S. surged 185% year-on-year for the four-week period ending February 22, 2025, with market share reaching 7.9%, Tobaccoinsider reported.
The report also indicated that VELO's implied market share for the latest week was approximately 10%, in line with BAT's previous statement.
VELO's growth was mainly attributed to the consumer acceptance of VELO Plus and retail expansion. Just 12 weeks after its launch, the product has captured a 5.4% market share nationwide.
Compared to the traditional "dry" ZYN and regular VELO, VELO Plus came in a larger, softer, and more moist pouch format.
According to Nielsen IQ data, ZYN continued to lose its edge, with year-over-year growth of only 13.2%, and its category share dropping to close to 55%.
However, PMI claimed that ZYN’s category volume was 10% higher than reported by NielsenIQ (approximately 65% according to Circana data), and emphasized that ZYN was growing faster than the overall nicotine pouch market in the U.S.
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