A vape supplier has taken action to reduce its appeal to young people with packaging and flavour changes amidst government crackdowns.

In connection with parliament’s plans to create a ‘smokefree generation’ by introducing a law which will phase out smoking, it announced a consultation on vaping. Launched on October 12, 2023, the proposals include plans to restrict flavours, regulate packaging and restrict the sale of vapes further.

Supreme sells “6.3m bottles of vaping liquid every month”. The company has unveiled plans to do its part to tackle underage vaping.

In June, Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, commented on the appeal of sweet flavours which resemble confectionaries. He said, “While vaping can be an effective quitting tool for smokers, it is important that non-smokers are not encouraged to start vaping. There has been a particularly worrying rise in the number of children using vapes, with companies clearly marketing these products to children using colours, flavours and cheap disposable options.”

Supreme has taken this onboard and will be changing some of its flavour names, for example, “peach dream” to “peach” and “sweet strawberry” to “strawberry”. Some flavours are to be entirely removed.

Research into vape marketing in 2023 found that teenagers are more likely to report that their peers would have no interest in vapes with standardised packaging. To this end, Supreme has pledged to discontinue all brightly coloured disposable vapes in favour of plain packaging.

Supreme pledged only to distribute its vapes with retailers who ensure “robust age verification”. It will also be issuing recommendations to sellers it works with not to display vapes near sweets and candy.

Speaking to The Standard, Sandy Chadha, Supreme’s CEO, said, “We believe flavoured vapes are a critical part of many ex-smokers 'quitting journey' as they seek to replace that tobacco taste for something more palatable, we are also desperate to ensure that those flavours do not spark any interest in younger people.

"We are fully supportive of any further legislation in the sector and believe it is the right thing to do to begin to transition our business by removing or changing anything from within our product set that could be deemed compromising.

"As government guidance evolves, we may seek to re-assess this approach."

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