For the development of new tobacco, how many potential markets are there in Eastern Europe?
The 2023 Cannabis Trade Shows in Czech Republic will be held at the Letny PVA Expo Center in Prague, the Czech capital, from November 3-5. This smoke-free themed trend event is also attracting attention.
Prague is the largest city in the Czech Republic and is known as the “Golden City”. It is located in the center of the European continent. The Vltava River meanders through the city. The transportation hub network is extremely convenient and the connections with surrounding countries are also quite close.
As an important market adjacent to Germany, the Czech Republic has attracted the attention of many tobacco companies, including e-cigarettes. According to the organizer, the number of exhibitors and exhibition area at this year’s Czech trade show Cannafest will hit a record high. And 70% of these exhibitors are from foreign countries. This time targeting CBD, we also see the attention of many tobacco companies and related channel dealers, focusing on the future development of green and healthy tobacco, including e-cigarettes. In the Czech Republic, a lot of tobacco is exported to Italy, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other countries every year. Most of its tobacco suppliers come from countries such as China and Germany. All this shows that the Czech Republic is a market with a strong tobacco atmosphere.
What are the e-cigarette market opportunities in the Czech Republic?
What about the crowd, consumption environment, channel scale, brand, and category characteristics?
Since the Czech Republic currently does not have a clear regulatory law on e-cigarettes, which is basically EU standards, its e-cigarette market is very free and has few restrictions.
Crowd wise. According to a set of data released by the local Ministry of Health, smoking is very common in the Czech Republic. In 2022, about 24% of Czechs used e-cigarettes, about 10% used e-cigarettes, about 6.6% used heated cigarettes, and about 2.8% Use nicotine pouches. This shows that the frequency of new tobacco use in this market is very diverse.
Another key point is that this country also has many tourists every year, which brings consumer groups to the e-cigarette market. At the same time, e-cigarettes in the Czech Republic currently favor young people. The average local salary is more than 10,000, and it is also one of the most economically developed regions in Eastern Europe.
What is concerning is that starting in 2022, Czech Health Minister Vladimir Valek said that he would follow the UK in promoting e-cigarettes and abandon the “abstinence policy” that has been implemented for many years. On the agenda of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Czech Ministry of Health plans to make harm reduction policies a major publicity project. This means that the Czech Republic may become the largest advocate of the EU’s harm reduction policy, profoundly affecting the direction of the EU’s health policy in the next few years, and the concept of harm reduction will also be promoted on the larger international stage.
The tobacco channel may also be the key to the expansion of the e-cigarette channel. Because specialty retail stores such as tobacco shops and vape shops are the most popular channels. In addition to many local tobacco shops, there are also many cigar specialty stores.
The Czech Republic, with a population of more than 10 million, has more than 2.4 million smokers. Its e-cigarette market space is expected to have just begun.
The Czech Republic currently has a relatively new and free e-cigarette environment, which is an opportunity for many Chinese e-cigarette factories and brands.
At least for now, there are still relatively few local brands in the Czech Republic.
Some data feedback from vape shops in the Czech Republic. For example, judging from the data of some Czech Vape and eliquidshop stores, most of the Czech disposables are brands such as Dinner Lady, ELF BAR, Suorin Bar, Lio Nano, OXBAR, Nasty Fix, KIWI, lost mary, IVG, and VUSE GO. The main recommendations are 600 that comply with EU TPD regulations. At the same time, in the Czech market you will find that Love Miracle is promoting their podsystem, which is Elf Bar ELFA.
In terms of equipment, there are mainly brands such as VOOPOO, OXVA, UWELL, SMOK, Aspire, and GeekVape.
However, the Czech Republic is also selling e-liquids, such as JUST juice, Adam’s vape, MONKEY, INFAMOUS and other brands.
Local e-cigarette channels, such as eliquidshop, are very large. They have more than 10 stores and are wholesalers. They are distributors of many e-cigarette brands, including ELF BAR, Smoktech, Joyetech, GeekVape, OBS, Apire, Innokin, Sony, etc. .
It currently appears that seasoning may be restricted in the Czech Republic.
In June this year, Czech President Peter Pavel signed an amendment to protect public health, which will end the sale of HNB with fragrance. The law is based on an EU mandatory directive and will come into effect on October 23. There will be no transition period for retailers to sell off remaining inventory, but there was no talk of e-cigarettes at the time. Antonín Berdych, spokesman for the local e-cigarette trade association (KEVAP), warned at the time that the flavor ban could lead to people making their own e-cigarette refills.
At the same time, in May this year, the Czech Republic also stated that e-cigarettes would be subject to supervision and a “consumption tax” would be levied on e-cigarettes. The government plans to impose new taxes on e-cigarettes, and the taxation standards will be based on the TPD. It’s just a matter of time and the tax rate could be between 0.1 and 0.35 euros per milliliter.
However, compared with e-cigarette taxes, traditional cigarette taxes continue to increase, including HNB, which may provide market space for e-cigarettes.
