JUUL makes wholesale debut with Bestway

Vaping giant JUUL has announced a partnership with Bestway Wholesale, widening the distribution of its products into the independent convenience channel.

“We are delighted to have partnered with Bestway Wholesale to make JUUL products available to thousands of independent retailers through its Bestway and Batleys depots.” said John Patterson, sales director of JUUL Labs UK.

Patterson said independent retail is a “key strategic focus” for JUUL, as the firm sees huge opportunity for vaping in the sector.

“Independents and symbol retailers account for 45% of tobacco purchases but less than 10% of overall vape sales, so the opportunity for the channel is huge and we estimate it could be worth an incremental £750m a year by 2020 if convenience gets its fair share. JUUL’s deal with Bestway will help independents address this imbalance in the vaping category and accelerate JUUL’s mission of improving the lives of adult smokers,” he said.

The deal will initially see JUUL Labs’s core range of Starter Kit and five JUULpod flavours (Golden Tobacco, Glacier Mint, Mango Nectar, Royal Creme and Apple Orchard) stocked in 10 selected Bestway and Batleys tobacco rooms from 24th May with further depots onboarding once JUUL’s age-verification process has been tested and verified.

Bestway customers who purchase JUUL products will be required to agree to operate Challenge 25, JUUL Labs’s mandatory age-verification requirement.

Dawood Pervez, managing director of Bestway Wholesale commented: “At Bestway Wholesale, our mission is to be the Best Way to grow our customers’ food and drink businesses.

“A key part of this is ensuring we are first to market with NPD and helping our customers keep ahead of trends in the marketplace, becoming a partner to customers and providing them with a point of difference over their competitors.”

The selected Bestway depots are Abbey Road, Hackney, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Brighton, Team Valley & Exeter and Batleys Leeds & Southampton depots.