Opposition to new nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, could lead to increased cigarette sales. This is according to Philip Morris International's head of Europe, Massimo Andolina. He also argues that tobacco companies, such as Philip Morris, need to take responsibility for these developments, as do policy makers.
"Let's be clear: we need to be responsible when launching new products, with flavors, product design and packaging that do not attract the wrong audience. We also need to have legislation that prevents young people from taking up nicotine. But we absolutely need to regulate products in a way that recognizes the different risk profiles." says Massimo Andolina to Vejpkollen.
PMI on the warpath
Spring 2023: For those who have been paying attention, it has been a six-month period where harm reduction and Sweden in particular have been in focus. Several campaigns and initiatives have been rolled out, mainly in social media, where the issue of Sweden's low smoking rate has received attention. Snus and a relatively mild legislation for e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches and a comprehensive smoking ban are seen as key factors behind the success. The initiatives range from health organizations, organized doctors to harm reduction activists and active users, but also some tobacco companies. Recently, Philip Morris International called for press conference and delivered a clear message.
"Sweden is the European example that the rest of the EU should study and learn from. Instead, it stubbornly clings to policies that do not challenge prevailing norms and instead put obstacles in the way of a smoke-free society" said PMI's CEO Jacsek Olczak and strained the eyes of the audience.
PMI is on the warpath.
Betting on snus and IQOS
When Vejpkollen hits Massimo Andolina the press conference is over and journalists have gone to their newsrooms. Massimo Andolina is responsible for PMI's European business and has been with the company for almost 15 years. He was there when PMI started talk about harm reduction in the early 2000s and has seen the launch of IQOS, the electronic device that heats tobacco and which PMI has invested billions in developing, in 2015. Since then, PMI has acquired and developed technology for everything from electronic cigarettes to ready-to-use concepts such as snus and nicotine pouches. PMI's harm reduction portfolio grew significantly with the purchase of Swedish Swedish Match last year.
"If you told me 10 years ago that we would have 35% of our income from something other than cigarettes, I would not have believed you" says Massimo Andolina via video link from Lausanne, where PMI has its European headquarters.
From science to education
For Massimo Andolina the future is about convincing the world that harm reduction is the third pillar of tobacco policy, after prevention and cessation. Harm reduction should be available to smokers who, for whatever reason, do not quit using nicotine, says Massimo Andolina.
"A few years ago, our focus was to show the scientific basis for tobacco harm reduction. Now there is a consensus on that basis. Today's hurdle is for society as a whole, and smokers and policy makers in particular, to be informed about the harmfulness of combustion, the scientific advances in tobacco and nicotine products, and to establish an open dialog with everyone. Society would benefit from breaking down dogma and preconceptions and we need to build trust. Harm reduction has a very important role to play. Already today we can see the health impact of smoke-free products on public health - we have already seen it in Scandinavia, especially Sweden, but now also in Japan" says Massimo Andolina.
Heat-not-burn in Japan
In many ways, Japan became PMI's test market for the Iqos heat-not-burn system and its Heets/Terea - the modified cigarette that uses a heating process to create vapor instead of smoke. It was a success. Today, 35% of all tobacco sales in Japan are Heets/Terea. Iqos has a similar harm profile to a traditional e-cigarette, although independent research has not yet been able to prove the extent of the harm-reduction effect. However, PMI's own research is convincing enough to British health authorities places heat-not-burn in the same category as e-cigarettes in terms of the risk of harm from nicotine use.
"The past weighs heavily"
In countries like United Kingdom and New Zealand the concept of harm reduction is now established in nicotine policy. In Sweden, it can be in the near future. But in rest of Europe it looks different. The resistance to harm reduction is huge, whether it's tobacco companies or someone else pushing the message. Something that is understandable, but at the same time very unfortunate, says Massimo Andolina.
"Unfortunately, the past can still weigh heavily. Some people find it difficult to move on from the past. They resent the fact that the industry that created the problem of smoking should be allowed to be part of the solution. The strategies and laws used to tackle smoking come from a time when there was no such thing as heat-not burn or e-cigarettes. Now, thanks to science and technology, there are better products than cigarettes on the market."
Seeing Sweden as a role model
He sees Sweden as a role model when it comes to smoking. Especially since the results of the Swedish model led to very few smokers and significantly less harm from nicotine use.
"It is important to clearly highlight that Sweden not only has few smokers and many snus users, but at the same time the least smoking-related diseases in Europe" says Massimo Andolina.
The importance of open dialogue
Sweden's journey from a smoking nation to almost no smoking at all has been going on for over 40 years, he says. He compares it to how the car industry works with governments to create more environmentally friendly cars - with the aim of reducing fossil fuel emissions together. Massimo Andolina says the analogy is clear in Sweden, the country that invented the seat belt, an innovation that was not easily accepted and took some 15 years to regulate as an integral part of all cars.
"There has been an open dialog between consumers, regulators and industry here. It has obviously had a good effect. I can't understand why the EU is not looking more closely at Sweden. Why are cigarettes allowed throughout Europe, but snus banned? It makes no sense to me at all."
Snus ban and flavors that attract the wrong ones
That the snus ban is a key issue for PMI is quite obvious, and understandable since it bought snus giant Swedish Match. At the same time, harm reduction is about more than oral tobacco products and heated tobacco, says Massimo Andolina. The use of nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes is on the rise. As a result, arguments that "flavours only appeal to young people" and the notion that the tobacco industry wants to "create a new generation of nicotine addicts" are becoming strong features of the nicotine debate.
For Massimo Andolina, this is worrying.
"There are many players in the tobacco and nicotine products and harm reduction market today. Large companies and small players, all with innovative products. It is important that we have a framework that ensures product safety, that we disclose what is in the products and so on. The transition from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives for adult smokers, who would otherwise continue smoking, must be as easy as possible. My concern is that the whole debate on harm reduction, and the framework that is being discussed, is being complicated by aggressive marketing of products aimed at non-smokers. The risk is that we end up with a framework that restricts harm reduction rather than facilitates it and contributes to the continuation of cigarette smoking." says Massimo Andolina.
Deliberately conservative with flavors
Currently, several European countries are discussing introducing some kind of flavor ban for e-cigarettes. The previous Social Democratic government in Sweden followed the same line and wanted to ban all flavorings other than tobacco flavors. Users and companies in the e-cigarette industry protested loudly. 85% of sales in a typical vejpshop are of non-tobacco e-liquid, and the typical customer is a former smoker over 30. The proposal was eventually voted down in Parliament, but Massimo Andolina is still concerned about the impact of the debate on flavorings.
"We are deliberately very conservative, which we see as responsible. We constantly weigh the importance of flavors to help smokers opt out of cigarettes, while ensuring we avoid unintended audiences. As our transformation progresses, we continue to be careful about how we sell our products and to whom we sell them. We are equally careful about our packaging and the flavors we use. It is important for us, for society and for the authorities that our smoke-free products are only available to adult smokers who have not quit and adult nicotine users." he says.
"It all depends on legislation"
PMI has stated on several occasions that its aim is to stop selling cigarettes in the not too distant future. I ask if he would like to speculate on which country this will happen first, based on current market conditions.
"It is very difficult to answer. Different countries have different rates of progress, which are usually determined by a range of factors: regulation, taxes, public debate and informed smokers. We have said that it would be possible to stop selling cigarettes in the UK as early as 2030. But this depends on legislation and the right measures being in place. In other countries, it is highly doubtful that it will happen so quickly. Then there are very local examples where sales of smoke-free products are increasingly taking over. In Vilnius, Heets account for over 40% of total tobacco sales. And then there is Sweden, where snus is very popular and cigarettes are less attractive. But it all depends on market conditions and developments. Says Massimo Andolina."
