Center for Tobacco Products News

The market for so-called e-cigarettes is tiny compared to that open to more traditional products, but has grown rapidly over the past few years. Lorillard’s purchase is the first major move from a major tobacco firm to embrace the technology, which works by atomising nicotine-laced liquid that is then inhaled. This produces an exhaled vapour, but no smoke.

Lorillard CEO Murray Kessler says that blu is “the perfect adjacency for us to participate in the smokeless market.”

“That is, e-cigarettes offer many of the benefits of other smokeless products but do so in a way that is familiar and enjoyed by current adult cigarette consumers,” Kessler explains. “We believe that blu will benefit from Lorillard Tobacco Company’s regulatory experience and sales infrastructure which are needed for it, and the category, to reach its potential in a responsible manner.”

After the purchase completes, blu will remain a separate company within Lorillard, and will maintain its staff and management. Last year, the company moved from selling its products through the internet to being stocked in more than 10,000 retail stores throughout the US, alongside a 70% growth in online sales.

“This is a very exciting move for me and my team,” says blu co-founder and CEO Jason Healy. “It gives us access to the tremendously experienced team and resources at Lorillard and will allow us to move to the next level on our expansion and product development.”

Though the market for e-cigarettes is growing, the technology has not managed to avoid controversy. It is not yet known what effect they could have on health, especially in the long-term, and the marketing associated with them – especially that concentrating on sweet flavourings such as cherry and vanilla – has been accused of attracting minors.

According to Cancer Research UK, “few studies have been conducted into the health effects of smoking e-cigarettes and those that have been published have reached differing conclusions.”

Despite concerns, however, e-cigarettes are generally accepted as being less harmful than their conventional cousins. In several countries they are marketed as a ‘nicotine replacement therapy’, designed to help smokers quit the habit altogether, though in other areas the laws associated with e-cigarettes are still developing.

In the US, where blu sells the vast majority of its products, the Food and Drug Administration has announced plans to begin regulating their use and sale in the coming years.

Writing on the blu website, Healy says: “While I’m obviously an advocate for e-cigarettes and openly have a dog in the fight, I completely support the fact that e-cigarettes need to have some regulations associated with their sale and I strongly believe that further testing has to be done to ensure the safety of the consumer, of which I am one.”