Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/550331
50 tobaccoasia By Nattira Medvedeva It cannot be denied that some of the hottest top- ics being discussed in the industry now relate to e-cigarettes or vaporizers. Consumer feedback shows an ever-increasing number of people have either already switched to e-cigarettes or are trying them out as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. Responding to this shift in the market, large to- bacco companies have rolled out their own brands of e-cigarettes, such as R.J. Reynold's Vuse, Im- perial's blu, and Nu Mark's MarkTen, with more soon to come. With the tobacco giants now being more ac- tive in the e-cigarette business, it would only be expected that flavoring houses would also start to enter this market segment. Companies such as US- based Tobacco Technology, Inc. (TTI), Belgium- based TAIGA International, and Netherlands- based Global Tobacco Flavors (GTF) are some of the well-known flavoring houses that have already been offering e-liquids or flavoring for e-liquids. The general consensus among flavoring houses about the e-cigarette market is optimistic. George Cassels-Smith, c.e.o. of TTI sees positive market trends and also foresees increases in consump- tion. Paul Voute, c.e.o. of TAIGA, also shares the opinion that the electronic cigarette market is expanding, though he believes there will be a shake-out in the next few years. Anthony H.R. Grijpstra, manager at GTF, says that market trends will be largely divided into those that are directed to the conventional smoker who tends to look for a similar smoking sensation as with ciga- rettes and those that are directed to new users who are starting vaping and are open to non-traditional vaping flavors. Cassels-Smith agrees. "I also think the trend is to the pedigree of the product and how it's made and I think that TTI can really help there. [TTI's] 40 years of exclusively flavoring tobacco prod- ucts gives [customers] a real base of knowledge for making a vaping aerosol taste like a cigarette and that's half the market. The other half of the market is crazy wild flavors and Tobacco Technol- ogy is the king of fusion flavors when it comes to the shisha industry and to the cigar industry. That knowledge also helps us develop cutting-edge fla- vors for the market that wants things that are non- traditional." A Full-Flavored Story: The Future of the E-Cigarette Market