Dive Brief:
- Philip Morris International Inc. will invest $600 million into a Zyn nicotine pouch manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colorado, over the next two years, according to a July 16 press release.
- The facility will make Zyn pouches created by Swedish Match, which Philip Morris acquired in early 2023. The investment will create 500 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs, with an anticipated average annual salary of around $90,000.
- The tobacco company expects to break ground on the new facility later this year with preliminary operations to begin by the end of 2025 and regular production starting in 2026.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition of the Sweden-based company and the new Colorado facility further Philip Morris’ mission to deliver U.S. legal-age consumers smoke-free alternatives.
“PMI and its U.S. affiliates are accelerating their mission to move adults who smoke away from cigarettes in the U.S. by investing in new U.S. manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing demand for nicotine options that are scientifically substantiated as better alternatives,” Philip Morris International Americas President and U.S. CEO Stacey Kennedy said in the release.
Sales of modern oral nicotine products like Zyn, On and Rogue grew by 34% in 2022 and were projected to grow 14% to 17% in 2023, according to the Management Science Associates Inc.
Since 2008, Philip Morris has invested $12.5 billion globally in developing and commercializing smoke-free products. The company is expanding its production capacities and investments for products like nicotine pouches and heat-not-burn devices across the U.S.
Philip Morris also makes Zyn nicotine pouches in Owensboro, Kentucky, where it intends to expand production capacity as well, according to the release. A third facility in Wilson, North Carolina, produces Heets, the consumable version of a heat-not-burn tobacco device under its IQOS brand.
The ongoing investments in Owensboro and Aurora aim to meet the growing U.S. demand for Zyn among adult nicotine consumers and support export capacity, according to the release.
Philip Morris is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with more than 2,300 employees across its U.S. affiliates, per the press release.
In the age of pushing for a smoke-free world, the Food and Drug Administration has been cracking down on illegal tobacco and nicotine products in the market. The agency first authorized the marketing of IQOS and several other Marlboro HeatSticks in 2019. More recently in 2023, the agency allowed three more heated tobacco products to be marketed to people over 21 years of age.
Zyn is marketed by Philip Morris International to adult tobacco users. Although it doesn't contain tobacco, U.S. regulators still treat it as a tobacco product.
