Former Defra secretary George Eustice and former National Crime Agency director of investigations Steve Bennett have joined a new advisory board for the company behind disposable vape brands ElfBar and Lost Mary.
The board – which includes several former political heavyweights – has been assembled by Hong Kong company HG Innovation to “provide strategic advice” as the vape brand owner looks to maintain growth in the UK market.
As well as Eustice and Bennett, members include Susie Kemp, former chief executive of Swindon Borough Council; Lord Gary Porter, former chair of the Local Government Association; health psychologist and smoking cessation expert Sairah Salim-Sartoni; and crossbench peer Lord John Walney, a former Labour MP and special advisor to prime minister Gordon Brown.
“The creation of an advisory board is an important step in the company’s operations in the UK market and our global journey,” said Victor Xiao, global vice-president at HG Innovation. “This aligns with our long-term commitment as the responsible market leader for the vaping sector and its role in smoking cessation. Board members have served at the highest levels of their respective professions and have direct experience working in the fields relevant to vaping, including the environment, the NHS and law enforcement. They will bring a wealth of expertise to this role.”
The ElfBar and Lost Mary brands are best known for their disposables device lines. The throwaway format has been booming over the last few years – in 2023 driving the overall category to more than double in value to £1.7bn. Volumes doubled too – with an additional 155.2 million units going through tills. But disposables have seen rapid rising use among teens, and are frequently littered or sent to landfill – prompting the government to begin the legislative process for their outright ban.
The previous Conservative government introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which proposed to potentially ban disposable vapes,
In the 2024 King’s Speech the new Labour government announced it would introduce a tobacco and vapes bill, coming after the party’s manifesto pledge to ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children to “stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine”.
Both ElfBar and Lost Mary have introduced non-disposable vaping options, such as the consumer-assembled, 6,000-puff Lost Mary BM6000 device, as well as its ‘4-in-1 pod kit’, which uses refillable pods. However, in this space it’s facing stiffer competition from Big Tobacco rivals.
Further to the likely disposable device ban, the government has also said it is “actively considering” the inclusion of a vape retailer licensing scheme in the bill, as well as regulations on the packaging and point of sale displays for vaping products, and a restriction on flavours.
The vaping sector has been broadly supportive of most elements of the coming bill, but has strongly objected to flavour bans. Trade association the UKVIA said “having a ban on flavours could have a negative impact on those who are attempting to quit” citing research it commissioned by OnePoll that a third of vapers said a flavour ban “will lead them back to cigarettes”. Some 83% of vapers surveyed said flavours had helped them quit smoking.
Research from UCL published earlier this month found that – while the number of adults vaping in England who have never regularly smoked has rocketed since 2021 when the availability of disposable devices boomed – among the adult population overall, the rise in vaping had “levelled off” since early 2023.
Xiao added that HG Innovation brands were “dedicated to addressing concerns around vaping, including youth access, its environmental impact, and illicit trade”.
“The creation of the advisory board further signals this intent,” he added. “We are honoured to have this group of experts to guide us to be a more socially responsible corporate citizen.”
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