We will be a total tobacco company offering consumers (The word, consumers, used in the context of the tobacco business means adult consumers. Minimum legal age for smoking varies in accordance with the legislation in each country.) an even greater choice of products by focusing on quality, innovation, and reduced-risk potential.
Reduced-Risk Products (RRP) offer real benefits to consumers and society. Our responsibility as a manufacturer is to continuously develop and launch RRP that meet consumer expectations and to provide information on them. We will lead in providing a range of consumer choice in the RRP category.
In 2021, we offered products (RRP) with the potential of risk reduction, social consideration, convenience, and affordability, such as Heated Tobacco Sticks (HTS), infused tobacco products, e-cigarettes and oral products.
In an effort to increase the presence of JT Group in reduced-risk products, we will be accelerating the level of investment, mainly towards heated tobacco sticks. In the last three years, we invested approximately JPY 200 billion towards R&D, marketing and capital expenditures.
Read more about our latest progress on the JT Group's tobacco business sustainability strategy.
Responsible innovation focusing on consumer choice has always been at the heart of what we do at JTI. The growing global market for potentially Reduced-Risk Products [Reduced-Risk Products are Products with the potential to reduce the risks associated with smoking] is a bold new frontier for delivering exactly that. We believe that the direction the vaping products market takes will – and should – be driven by consumers. It is up to us, the innovators in the tobacco industry, to listen to consumers and ensure their needs are met with high-quality products.
We have committed to investing significantly in Heated Tobacco propositions to compete more successfully in this growing market of RRP. We have also enhanced our capabilities – or acquired new capabilities – to succeed beyond combustible products by further focusing on consumer-centricity.
We have partnered with startups and incubators to give emerging technologies and ideas the opportunity to reach our R&D centers.
While we believe that vaping products have reduced-risk potential compared to smoking cigarettes, they should only be used by adult* consumers who are informed of the associated risks, including nicotine addiction.
We take a consumer-centric approach to research and development, and focus on four major factors that motivate consumers to consider Reduced-Risk Products:
This approach to our Reduced-Risk Product research and development enables us to drive strong benefits for all of our key stakeholders: consumers, shareholders, employees, and the wider society.
It also reflects the Harm Reduction Equation shown below.
The success of any harm reduction depends on two factors: the potential to reduce the risks associated with using a particular product and the number of people adopting the product. Its potential value is lost when consumers do not accept these alternative propositions.
We support consumers to make informed choices, by providing information acquired through the scientific assessment of the products they may wish to use.
These products offer potential of risk reduction, social consideration, convenience, and affordability.
Heated tobacco sticks contain tobacco leaf and create a tobacco-enriched vapor that can be inhaled. They deliver an enjoyable tobacco experience through heating with high temperature (c. 230-350 Celsius), not burning.
Infused tobacco is another variant of heated tobacco products. It combines a tobacco capsule and a liquid cartridge. Tobacco leaf contained inside the capsule releases vapor via infusion of vaporized liquid.
Also known as electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes heat a liquid that usually contains nicotine, but no tobacco. They create an inhalable vapor by electrically heating a liquid (known as ‘e-liquid’) contained within the device or a replaceable cartridge.
Oral products include snus and nicotine pouches. These nicotine-containing products are placed inside the mouth, between the gum and upper lip, where nicotine is absorbed through the oral mucosa. Oral product consumers are not exposed to the toxic compounds resulting from the combustion of tobacco. While oral products are not risk free, they do not generate environmental tobacco smoke (also known as second-hand smoke).
Snus contains tobacco (cut, ground, powdered, or leaf), while nicotine pouches are completely tobacco-free.
Our Reduced-Risk Products will be defined by their potential to reduce the health risks associated with smoking and their ability to provide an acceptable user experience for consumers. We’re committed to bringing new and innovative Reduced-Risk Products to market, and are continually developing and testing them using scientifically-rigorous methods.
While it is still too early to understand the long-term health effects of RRP, various factors (including the elimination of combustion and the fewer toxicants found in the vapor) suggest there is potential for them to reduce the risks associated with smoking. That’s why we’re committed to ensuring that all our Reduced-Risk Products fulfill this potential.
Case study
After five years, many studies and clinical trials and more than 200,000 pages submitted to FDA, we are excited to have received marketing orders for the Logic Pro, Power, and Vapeleaf* devices, as well as their tobacco flavored capsules.
FDA confirmed that Logic's products have demonstrated that marketing of the products is appropriate for the protection of the public health. This underscores years of scientific study and research dedicated to ensuring that adult consumers have access to Logic products.
Logic has always supported effective, proportionate and evidence-based regulation of ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems). From the moment FDA issued the Deeming Rule regulating ENDS, Logic has been engaged in a robust and committed effort to comply with all FDA requirements. Logic submitted Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) for its Logic Pro, Logic Power, and Vapeleaf products on August 19, 2019, well before the PMTA deadline.
JT Science is a valuable online resource for both scientists and non-scientists. Our mission is to inform, educate, and collaborate with anyone who is interested in learning about the science behind the products – from consumers and scientists to the regulatory community.
We strive for an open, balanced, and fair environment where factual scientific data and assessments are shared in a transparent way.
While there are currently no globally agreed standards for assessing the risk-reduction of the alternatives to combustible tobacco products, our team of scientists is developing methods and applying them in research contributing to the increasing scientific evidence on Reduced-Risk Products. We will continue with these studies and share progress updates on our science website, JT Science. As an example, a publication on the reduced exposure to selected harmful and potentially harmful constituents when switching from combustibles to heated tobacco products here.
Read more about our research on the JT Science website.
Case study
Ploom X is our latest generation and most exciting and ambitious proposition.
The cutting-edge device combines an aesthetic and innovative design with a more intuitive user experience, with no buttons on its surface. In addition to the ability to precisely control heating temperature, Ploom X is equipped with a new heating technology which focuses on air flow, significantly improving user experience.
We will continue to develop new functionalities for our devices to make them as safe and user-friendly as possible.
Case study
Developed as a global initiative, Ploom X is a perfect example of successful collaboration across different functions in multiple locations.
At the start of this truly global project, our Product Design team partnered with a design agency in the U.K. The technical configuration was then defined by our R&D teams in Japan, Germany, and Hong Kong. Now, the products are manufactured in China, and Quality Assurance is conducted in Japan and Germany.
Teams of experts from across the organization have been collaborating closely and everyone involved has gone the extra mile to make the project a success, in spite of the challenges of working across different time zones during a pandemic. The result is a new star product that will help us to secure future growth.
Ploom X will make the user experience more pleasurable and unique than ever before. Listening to consumers globally, we have created a proposition that is aligned with today’s lifestyles and choices. This includes a more authentic tobacco taste, through proprietary technologies and a stylish design.
Takehiko Tsutsui,
SVP, Reduced-Risk Products
Case study
Read more about the environment and our products.
We have established a dedicated supply chain for our Reduced-Risk Products, building strong supplier partnerships that support business expansion and meet the demands of our increasingly sophisticated portfolio. In addition to our in-house production capabilities, we source from manufacturers across Asia and Europe.
Read about the Environment and our products.
Read about our perspective on Reduced-Risk Product regulation.