Marlboro, Camel, and the ZYN Boom: Tobacco's Great Pivot

The numbers don't lie: cigarette volumes keep falling, and nicotine pouches like ZYN are the fastest-growing segment in the industry, up double digits year over year.

Altria, the house of Marlboro, is doubling down on a long-running U.S. distribution tie-up with ZYN's parent, Philip Morris International, while quietly testing its own formats. Camel's parent, Reynolds, is pushing a competing pouch lineup onto the same shelves.

Regulators and public-health groups are still deciding how to treat pouches — which is exactly why the marketing fight over them is so intense.

For retailers, pouches are now a destination category: convenience stores report the segment anchors foot traffic that cigarettes used to drive.