The world’s largest tobacco company, Philip Morris International, announced on Monday that it would halt nationwide online sales on ZYN.com, the website owned by Swedish Match North America, while the company replies to a subpoena from the District of Columbia.
In 2022, Philip Morris paid $16 billion to acquire Swedish Match in an effort to lessen the company’s reliance on cigarettes in the face of tighter laws and a shift in consumer preference away from tobacco and conventional cigarettes.
According to the company, Swedish Match North America was served with a subpoena by the attorney general of D.C. asking for information regarding its adherence to the state’s 2022 ban on the sale of any flavored tobacco products.
The sale of any flavored tobacco, including flavored synthetic nicotine products, was outlawed in Washington, D.C., in October 2022.
Philip Morris stated that it plans to abide by D.C.’s request and that a material responsibility is conceivably feasible in the event that this action has an unfavorable outcome.
According to the company, its initial inquiry suggests that flavored nicotine pouch products have been sold in Washington, D.C., mostly through a few independent stores and specific internet sales platforms.
Reuters was informed by a Philip Morris representative that “Swedish Match is conducting a full review of its sales and supply chain arrangements in D.C. and other U.S. localities where flavor bans may apply and is temporarily suspending all sales on ZYN.com until that assessment is complete.”
The high demand for Philip Morris’s Zyn nicotine pouches—which the business claims are tobacco-free—in the United States has helped the corporation.
Shipments of Zyn nicotine pouches increased by almost 80% year over year in the company’s first quarter results, which were released in April. On Monday, the company noted, “very small percentage of nationwide Zyn volumes” is represented by sales on ZYN.com.
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