Could vitamin vapes be a thing?

A social tendency towards alternative vaping products is supported by health and environmental conscious individuals, according to a new report by Research and Markets.

The firm’s new round of insights on the alternative vaping sector is available on its website for US$1,700.

It’s been a wild ride for the vaping segment, which skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple years before taking a considerable hit after last year’s non-virus related lung illness crisis.

Read more: US teens today use more vapes, less drugs and alcohol: study

Read more: Health Canada wants to ban advertising of vapes to deter youth

But the new Research and Markets report is taking a different angle, by looking at health-related opportunities in vaping.

“This report provides an overview of alternative vaping products without nicotine. It focuses on emerging trends such as vaping essential oils and vitamins, which are taking vaping in a more positive holistic direction akin to herbal supplements and natural product consumption,” the firm said in a statement.

This tendency towards alternative vaping products is primarily driven by “health and environmental conscious individuals,” Research and Markets says, who seek anticipated personal benefits from consuming natural products.

Alt vapes have become more popular with the advent of brands that promote the benefits of “inhalable aromatherapy,” according to the statement. AntiCig Aromatherapy is one such brand.

AntiCig invites consumers to “create pleasurable moments” with its self-activated inhalers.

“AntiCig is an inhalable aromatherapy diffuser stick designed for a healthier lifestyle and social wellness,” reads a paragraph on AntiCig’s homepage, which advertises eight vape flavours including DIET, SLEEP and VITAMIN ORANGE. 

“It contains the Pure & Natural Essential oils, enriched with Wellness Herbs, Pure Plant Extracts and Vitamin Goodness,” the vape-maker says. “Anticig comes in 8 UNIQUE LIFE FLAVOURS each mimicking a life experience” (emphasis retained from original text).

Research and Markets says this type of product creates a new competitor to supplement categories like vitamin pills, sleeping and anxiety aids. According to the report, they have the potential to pull consumers away from nicotine, tobacco, and cannabis vaping products.

The firm’s data show the main markets for alternative non-nicotine brands are the USA, Japan, and China. The statement noted a huge variety in extracts and a need for more scientific research on the short and long term effects of use.

Alternative vaping products suffer from the bad reputation of their less-health-conscious cousins, Research and Markets warns.

“Given the emerging popularity of non-nicotine vape products in the context of the regulatory backlash against nicotine and cannabis vape products, these new vape alternatives often fall afoul of prohibited product policies related to marketing and sale of vape products generally on social media and through online sales platforms,” the firm said.

Research and Markets’s report contains an analysis of 136 alternative nicotine-free e-liquid vaping brands marketed worldwide. The products are compared by content and product type with particular attention given to component characteristics, the statement says.

Top image by Lindsay Fox via Wikimedia Commons

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