The Discreet New Habit – Interest in Nicotine Pouches Surges in Britain
From office desks to football terraces, nicotine pouches have quietly become one of the fastest-growing alternatives among adult nicotine consumers in Britain. Once a Scandinavian curiosity, the small sachets — placed under the lip to release nicotine without smoke, vapour or tobacco — are now firmly part of everyday culture.
Online discussion around nicotine pouches has risen more than 600% in the UK in the past two years, with users taking social media channels to compare flavours, prices and availability. The trend reflects a broader shift towards discreet, convenience-led consumption — from low-alcohol drinks to caffeine pouches — as adult consumers move away from more traditional forms of nicotine use.
Amid this cultural shift, Swedish innovation firm Emplicure has launched Seratek®, a patented nicotine-delivery technology already used in its Klar® pouches, in the UK.
Independent testing suggests Seratek® delivers nicotine faster — releasing around 80% within the first five minutes, even at lower strengths. A consumer taste test in Sweden (2025) found Seratek® was preferred over leading international brands for flavour, comfort and discreteness.
In England, cigarettes remain an unresolved public-health problem, with an estimated 74,600 deaths attributable to smoking in 2019 — around 15% of all deaths that year (NHS Digital, Statistics on public health: mortality – Part 2, August 2025).
Against that backdrop, the rapid adoption of smoke-free alternatives has become one of the most significant shifts in consumer behaviour of the past decade. No health claims are made for Seratek®.
Mattias Josander, CEO of Emplicure, said:
“Our ambition is to accelerate the transition to a smokeless world. Cigarettes remain one of the leading causes of preventable death, and all credible data show adult consumers are seeking better alternatives. No health claims are made for Seratek®. For those alternatives to succeed, they need to work — to deliver nicotine quickly enough to satisfy, while avoiding unnecessarily high doses. That’s the balance Seratek® was designed to achieve: faster onset at lower strength. For adult nicotine users, it’s about choice, performance and progress.”
Analysts predict the UK will be among Europe’s fastest-growing nicotine-pouch markets, with the global category forecast to expand from £5.9 billion in 2024 to more than £74 billion by 2035 (Barclays Equity Research, 2025).
Nicotine pouches were first introduced in Sweden in 2014, building on the country’s long tradition of oral nicotine use. Sweden has since become the world’s first nation to reach “smokefree” status — defined as adult smoking prevalence below 5%. No health claims are made for Seratek®.
Emplicure is a Sweden-based company founded in 2014 in Uppsala by Professor Håkan Engqvist to develop drug delivery systems using bioceramic and polymer technology. It is backed by prominent Swedish investors including Thomas Von Koch, the co-founder of EQT Partners, one of the largest Private Equity funds in Europe.