This Q&A with Tony Gaines, chief sales officer at JOEY, is brought to you by JOEY.

Nicotine pouches are becoming a more important part of the backbar mix. Why are they resonating with customers?

It’s the evolution of nicotine. When e-cigarettes hit the market, it was about “How do I get the feeling I got from cigarettes?” It was about the nicotine factor and how it hits the body, which is why vapes did so well.

The next evolution was the white powder nicotine pouch, and a lot of that is because the laws surrounding vapes were changed to where it became just like smoking. You can’t vape in the building, you can’t vape on an airplane, you can’t vape in a stadium at a baseball game. So, the evolution was, “Okay, how do I get my nicotine and not break the rules?” That’s where you see the big shift to pouches.

With pouches, consumers may be able to get their nicotine while sitting at their desk working or while sitting at a game. With JOEY^™ pouches, there is no spitting required, and it can be used anywhere.

That’s what has led to the growth of nicotine pouches. And they’re growing at a 30% CAGR.

What differentiates JOEY from other synthetic nicotine pouches on the market?

We offer a new technology in synthetic nicotine pouches. Our products have what we call flavorbeads technology. We take the nicotine and flavoring and put them into little orbs, which are designed to slowly release the flavor, with some consumers reporting that it may last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. At the same time, consumers will still feel the nicotine within the first five minutes, like other pouches.

This is opposed to a white powder pouch that goes in your mouth, dry or moist, and just sits there. After five to 10 minutes, the flavor goes away.

Continue reading “The Next Evolution of Nicotine” in the October 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.