The latest official estimate of 1.3 million ‘vapers’ (e-cigarette enthusiasts) in the UK is a year old, and Trevor Field, chief sales and marketing officer for the E-Lites brand, reckons the figure may already have topped two million.
“That’s 20% of the smoking population,” he says.
E-cigarettes face their own regulatory threats, however. Only last week a Welsh Assembly white paper proposed that Wales could become the first part of the UK to ban their use in enclosed public places.
Meanwhile, some pub operators, including Mitchells & Butlers, JD Wetherspoon and Fuller’s, stop customers vaping indoors — and there are calls for it to be included in the smoking ban in public places.
Landmark deal
Enterprise Inns, though, is the first major pubco to make a decisive break in favour of vaping, agreeing a deal with Nicolites that will make them available as a new revenue line for its 5,000-plus tenants.
“The pub trade has always been very important for us,” says Nicolites MD Nikhil Nathwani. “You often hear smokers say ‘I only have a cigarette when I’m out drinking’, which continues the trend of e-cigarettes becoming more mainstream.”
Turnover for the UK’s biggest brand leapt from £6m to £23m during 2013, and the e-cigarettes market is evolving rapidly, with a plethora of suppliers offering different designs.
Among them have been the big tobacco firms, taking an ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ approach. Imperial has Puritane, RJ Reynolds boasts Vuse, JTI has Ploom and BAT (British American Tobacco) has Vype.
Nigel Hardy, head of BAT’s Nicoventures arm in the UK, appreciates some pub customers may not be comfortable with vaping, “regardless of any debate about health risks”.
“We think their use should be determined by the venue owner, in response to the wishes of customers, and we’d support a solution where both e-cigarette and non e-cigarette consumers can be accommodated — for example, by having separate sections.”
On-trade battle
E-Lites’ Field concedes it’s been harder for e-cigarettes to crack the on-trade “because of the smoking ban, even though there are quite a few advantages”.
He adds: “E-cigarettes are keeping people in the pub longer, and at around £2 for the equivalent of 20 cigarettes they’re a great cost-saving. It’s good for the publican, too, as a new, incremental revenue stream.”
The company’s research suggests there’s a big education job to do, however, so has produced ‘Vaping Allowed’ stickers for pubs.
“Our number-one aim is to make the experience as close to smoking as possible,” says Field. “We’ve even launched e-cigars for special occasions. But barstaff need training. Customers will want to know the facts and they need to be encouraged to be mindful of the people around them and respect their views.”
Simon Clark, director of the industry’s pro-smoker body, Forest, believes that pubs should be allow-ed to decide their own policyon e-cigarettes.
Misguided
“If they choose to ban them that’s their right but we believe they’d be misguided,” he adds. “Some pubs have banned e-cigarettes on the grounds they ‘look like cigarettes’. That’s like saying water should be banned because it looks like vodka.
“As more people use them more people will get used to them and see them for what they are. A sign above the bar saying ‘vaping allowed here’ will make it clear that people are vaping, not smoking.
“E-cigarettes are an opportunity, not a threat. By embracing them, publicans have the chance to bring many smokers back in from the cold. That’s a business opportunity that should not be wasted.”