In recent years, many Western countries have imposed stricter restrictions on e-liquid flavors, such as fruit flavors, beverage flavors, and mixed flavors are not allowed to enter the market. Hangsen has been selling in Europe for nearly 10 years. Today, we will combine our understanding of the market and statistics provided by professional data websites to interpret the taste passwords of British e-cigarette users.
Overall overview
1. The products of online e-cigarette stores in the UK are increasing and enriched, and the share of e-liquid products of local brand manufacturers is also increasing.
2. Sweet/candy flavours are more popular in the UK than in other markets, with major local brands such as IVG, Juice N Power and Dinner Lady all launching new products.
3. In the EU, the ban on menthol combustible tobacco products has not had an impact on the ratio of menthol/menthol-flavored products, but there has been a huge increase in cooling products.
4. The products in the sweet/candy-flavored category with added menthol have increased sharply, and the proportion of tobacco-flavored e-liquids with added menthol is slightly higher.
5. In the category of pre-filled atomizers, the range of products available online is gradually expanding, and is growing toward a broader trend in the bottled electronic atomizer market.
6. The brand of pre-filled oil atomized bombs affiliated to tobacco companies has added a variety of options for dessert and beverage flavors. At the same time, maintaining its flavor characteristics is simpler than other independent brands.
taste preference
Overall, the taste has become "easy". We divided flavors into 11 main categories (such as beverages, fruits, desserts, tobacco, etc.) and 47 sub-categories (such as lemonade, tropical fruits, donuts, etc.). And the first notable trend to consider is the decreasing sophistication of flavors. From the figure below, we can clearly see that the products with compound flavors are slowly declining, while the products with two-ingredient flavors are increasing year by year.
At the same time, we can also find that the taste of the products offered in the UK has its own distinctive characteristics, which makes the UK stand out in many overseas markets. And fruit flavors are still the most common ingredient, growing steadily every year.
For most markets, the dessert flavour category has declined significantly over the same period, with the third most popular flavour in the UK being the sweet/confectionary category.
Analyzing the table below, it is not difficult to find that in the product portfolio of British brands, fruit-flavored products have decreased slightly in recent years, but sweet/confectionary-flavored products have grown significantly.
New product launches from IVG, Juice N Power and Dinner Lady have driven growth in the sweet/confectionary category, while Vampire Vape has seen fewer such products year-over-year.
On the other hand, high-end imported brands have been following global trends to change their product offerings, as evidenced by an increase in fruit flavors and a decrease in dessert flavors, and now they have only a small amount of sweet/confectionary flavored products in stock.
International Comparison
The five flavor components in British bottled vape liquids, from high to low frequency, are menthol, strawberry, tobacco, apple and blueberry, which can be used as a single flavor or as a compound flavor profile. part. By comparing the frequency of use of these ingredients with other European markets, the differences in taste in different markets can be seen. (Note: This analysis and comparison table also adds the flavor ingredients commonly used in France and Germany: candy, vanilla and caramel).
From the chart below, we can interpret that among the three markets below, the UK is the country with the highest proportion of fruit flavors such as strawberry and blueberry, followed by the use of apple as an additional flavor. The French product, on the other hand, has a very different flavor profile than the British one, with a higher proportion of tobacco flavor products and caramel and vanilla flavors, often mixed and matched.
At the same time, looking at the graph below, we can see that all countries have followed a similar trend in terms of menthol use. Menthol-flavored products remained stable throughout the analysis period and did not show a significant trend of increase, which may be related to the EU's complete ban on menthol-flavored combustible tobacco products, on the other hand, products using menthol as a compound flavor have increased.
In Germany, menthol is increasingly being added to beverages and sweet/candy-flavored vaping liquids. Fruit-flavored vaping liquids are found to contain increasing levels of menthol in a number of countries, starting with the fruit ice vaping liquid flavor originally produced in Malaysia, and menthol has grown in popularity. In the UK portfolio, menthol additions in the sweet/confectionary category showed high growth, while menthol additions in the tobacco category were slightly higher.
Status quo of online pre-oiled atomizer flavors
While the online channel is not the most popular retail method for pre-filled pods (consumers usually buy them in tobacco specialist shops and other traditional retail stores), we found that the UK offers some variation in the number of brands and products they offer. Increase.
In terms of the increased share of fruit flavors, the taste of the products it offers shows a similar trend to that of bottled vaping liquids, but it is more important in terms of tobacco and menthol products.
Since the pre-filled vape market is far less fragmented than the electronic vaping liquid market, and is dominated by only a few large companies, according to the analysis of the data report, tobacco companies will continue to focus on tobacco flavors in terms of the flavor of e-liquid On the rise, and maintain a relatively stable trend, while the fruit flavor has decreased slightly in recent years, but still occupies the main position.
Indie brands, on the other hand, have significantly increased their fruit and other sweet or sweet/candy-flavored pre-filled pods, and downgraded those with tobacco or mint flavors.
In short, tobacco companies are still offering products that are closer to the taste profile of traditional smokers, but are also starting to offer more variety. But even in hybrid flavors, the flavor profiles they offer tend to be more simplistic.
