On the afternoon of September 20th, participants at the GTNF forum engaged in discussions about the future of e-cigarettes, focusing on two main areas: "the path to sustainable development" and "directions for new product development.".
During the first afternoon session themed "The Path to Sustainable Development," the panelists expressed the view that sustainable development is no longer just a corporate strategy, but also encompasses consumers, the environment, and even the entire supply chain.
The forum was hosted by Christopher Fleury, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Research at Ipsos, with panelists including Ana Krasojevic, Director of Sustainable Development Strategy and Reporting at Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Sudhanshu Patwardhan, HealthTech entrepreneur and Director of the Health Research and Education Center, Diane Raverdy Lambert, Chief Scientist and Head of Regulatory Affairs at SWM, and Michiel Reerink, Director of International Affairs and Managing Director of Alliance One International GmbH at Alliance One International.
Multiple guests believe that implementing sustainable development strategies is beneficial for the tobacco market, both for buyers and sellers, as well as for the society as a whole. Collaborating with consumers is also crucial in order to create and produce environmentally friendly and recyclable products, thus embracing the path of sustainable development.
However, Michiel Reerink has expressed a different viewpoint on sustainability strategies. He mentioned that he recently visited the African country of Malawi and witnessed the actual situation of local tobacco farmers. He believes that sustainability is not only reflected in product production and consumers, but also involves other issues. For example, child labor and improving the income of tobacco farmers. These require joint efforts from companies throughout the supply chain. Only through the combined actions of each link can a sustainable development path be achieved.
At the second forum with the theme "Innovative Products for the Future," the guests exchanged their views on the development of new products in the tobacco industry. They believed that future products should move towards being less harmful, more intelligent, and environmentally friendly.
This forum was hosted by Eve Wang, the Executive Director of Smoore International and Vice President of Smoore. The panel discussion included participants such as Cui Tao, Director of Innovation, Strategy, and Compliance at Innokin Technology; James Kuang, Chief Scientist and Director of Life Science Research Institute at ICCPP; Fadi Maayta, President and Co-founder of ANDS; Cherry Pan, Sales Manager of the Eastern Division at Smiss Technology; and Ryan Selby, CEO of Generative AI Solutions and Executive Director of Modern Nicotine Company.
What is the future direction of the e-cigarette industry? Multiple guests have expressed that apart from harm reduction and intelligent recyclability, there should also be minimal impact on the surrounding people. Fadi Maayta, on the other hand, believes that AI will provide the answers regarding the future.
A question was posed by an e-liquid manufacturer on-site, inquiring if innovation is feasible in the realm of device manufacturers and brand holders. This is crucial as each progressive step in the e-cigarette industry's innovation has the potential to impact both the devices and e-liquids. When producing e-liquids, manufacturers are not only concerned with innovation, but also desire to witness compatible outcomes.
According to Fadi, firstly, many e-liquid manufacturers have become extremely aggressive in the belief that producing bubblegum flavors and all these radical flavors is an innovation that should be completely condemned and rejected. This is not innovation, but rather a disaster for the e-cigarette industry. Therefore, he believes that if these companies truly want to innovate and envision the future, they should focus more on directions beyond nicotine.
Smokers develop an addiction to cigarettes and then become dependent on nicotine found in better alternatives. Fadi believes that this transition should continue in order to move these users away from nicotine. Compared to combustible cigarettes, alternative nicotine delivery systems have the potential to significantly reduce potential harm, so investing in products beyond nicotine may be the future trend.
Ryan Selby believes that AI has a tremendous opportunity to assist in the e-cigarette industry. By inputting large amounts of data and identifying interactions between devices and e-liquids, there is potential to find opportunities for combining substances and devices in a way that reduces associated risks. Additionally, observing macro patterns can help understand how to shift users away from nicotine usage towards alternative directions. Big data and AI have the ability to uncover hidden secrets that can help companies progress in the right direction.
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