Zyn demand sparks new factory builds as nicotine pouch use grows

The Food and Drug Administration in June authorized 20 Zyn nicotine pouch products to be marketed with a modified-risk claim, giving the category its biggest regulatory lift yet just as Philip Morris International expands production in Kentucky and Colorado. The products may be marketed for adult smokers who switch completely from cigarettes, with a claim that switching lowers the risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

The new authorization lands after a year of aggressive capacity building. Philip Morris International announced a $232 million expansion of its Owensboro, Kentucky, plant in July 2024, and the site was slated to move to 24-hour, seven-days-a-week production in the fourth quarter of that year. The company has also committed $600 million to a new Zyn factory in Aurora, Colorado, a project expected to create about 500 jobs once fully operational.

Zyn’s rise has pushed nicotine pouches from a niche smokeless product into one of tobacco’s fastest-growing categories, and rivals are now trying to catch up. Tobacco companies are racing to launch or expand their own pouch brands as the market shifts toward a product sold as cleaner, modern and easier to use than cigarettes.

CDC and FDA data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 1.8% of U.S. middle and high school students, about 480,000 young people, used nicotine pouches in the past 30 days. The 2024 survey also found pouches were the second most commonly used tobacco product among youth, behind e-cigarettes. FDA and RTI data from the 2025 survey put youth pouch use at about 460,000 students.

Public health researchers have warned that nicotine pouches contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm the developing adolescent brain.