E-Cigarettes Keep Evolving: Will Anyone Buy 'Electronic Coffee'?

On July 29, SNOWPLUS launched an electronic pod coffee in Beijing. Simply put, it is an e-cigarette with a coffee flavor.
 

The price for a single set of this electronic coffee is 298 yuan (e-cigarette device + two coffee pods), roughly the price of ten cups of coffee. The replacement coffee pods are sold in sets of three for 98 yuan.

According to official information, the main ingredient of the coffee pod is natural coffee extract, along with added vegetable glycerin. The natural coffee extract enhances the aroma complexity of the vaporized coffee, and the caffeine content meets relevant standards.

Each coffee pod can be vaped approximately 300 times. Currently, SNOWPLUS has released two popular coffee flavors: matcha snow ice and cappuccino, with other coffee varieties still in development.

The e-cigarette device used for SNOWPLUS electronic coffee is in coffee colors. The product description states that the coffee pod shell is made from high-temperature resistant food-grade materials from the U.S. Eastman, utilizing TrueFeel honeycomb ceramic atomization technology to heat thousands of micron-sized pores simultaneously, aiming for a smoother and fuller inhalation experience.

The consumption of SNOWPLUS electronic coffee and the social scenarios derived from coffee culture are becoming important elements of modern urban life. In fact, since 2017, a series of new startups represented by Luckin Coffee and Lian Coffee have been changing the domestic coffee market, which was primarily dominated by chain brands like Starbucks and Costa.

At the same time, public interest in e-cigarettes is also on the rise.

According to the "China Tobacco Survey Report Statistics," by the end of 2017, the number of smokers in China was approximately 312 million, with e-cigarette consumers accounting for only 0.6% of the total number of smokers in the country.

The SNOWPLUS team believes that as a low-harm alternative to smoking products, if e-cigarettes can replace traditional cigarettes within the next three years and achieve a penetration rate of 15%, it would not only signify a huge industry prospect but also represent progress in public health efforts to reduce smoking harm.

Undeniably, e-cigarette products still face considerable controversy due to their nicotine content.

Recently, the National Health Commission issued a warning about the potential risks of e-cigarettes, including a prohibition on advertising e-cigarettes as "smoking cessation devices" and emphasizing the potential negative impact on youth.

Wang Sa, the founder of the SNOWPLUS brand, believes that SNOWPLUS aims to serve the smoking community with low-harm alternative e-cigarette products, hoping to help existing smokers gradually reduce their use of nicotine products. At the same time, they will also protect minors from trying e-cigarettes out of curiosity.

Recently, the SNOWPLUS team proposed the "Angel Protection Action" for minors. Specific measures include using big data to prevent minors from purchasing through online sales channels, and strengthening training for sales personnel in offline channels, establishing a mechanism for random checks and penalties for non-compliant distributors, and requiring that e-cigarettes not be sold to minors.

Wang Sa stated that after the launch of the SNOWPLUS pod-based e-cigarette, sales data reached 10,000 sets in April, 100,000 sets in May, and 400,000 sets in June, with expectations to reach 800,000 sets by the end of this month. In June of this year, the SNOWPLUS team announced that it had secured $40 million in Series A funding.