DISRUPTORS IN TROUBLE: JUUL’S FIGHT AT HOME

Following on from our Juul article from February’s edition, the company has been in the press again this week. A gentle reminder, Juul is the company that was started in a garage in San Francisco in 2015, and 4 years later had a $38 billion valuation and a share of over 80% of the ecigarette market. In the previous article, the subject was about the popularity of the product among school children. Now the company and industry face another challenge, San Francisco, (the home of Juul’s humble origins) has just legislated a ban on the sale of E-cigarette products that have not undergone premarket review by the US Food and Drug Administration. As no E-cig has made it past the FDA, this is a de facto ban on all products. This includes brick and mortar stores as well as online deliveries. Whilst the industry is nascent, it is still a big deal, especially with other cities poised to follow suit.

It’s hard to imagine Virginia banning Tobacco or Tennesse banning Whiskey and this appears to be little different. Perhaps a new prohibition-style era where people bootleg their own ‘moonshine’ vape liquid will soon be on the horizon?

Previous Juul article: https://www.hayhillwealth.com/post/juul-s-dreams-up-in-smoke