KiK plans to set e-cigarette market alight
ENTREPRENEUR Sandy Chadha, the man at the helm of £48m turnover battery and lighting supplier Supreme Imports, has launched a new venture selling e-cigarette liquids, branded KiK.
KiK Ltd, which last night hosted a launch party at Epernay champagne bar in Manchester, sells e-liquids in varying nicotine strengths and a choice of 65 flavours – including pina colada, chocolate and seven tobacco flavours – to be used in vape machines.
Mr Chadha sees e-liquids as an emerging market and has invested around £250,000 in the company and KiK brand.
He is predicting a turnover of £3.6m in the company’s first full year, having already done £480,000 in the first four months of trading.
He said: “Vape kits are different to e-cigarettes, although we do sell those as well, and we make our margin on the liquid used in the machine, not the machine itself.
“At the moment we are advertising them as e-cigarettes because this is a nascent market and people don’t yet understand what e-liquids are but I think that in the next two to three years e-liquids will take over the market.
“They are superior to e-cigarettes and people enjoy the flavour and taste, as well as being able to reducing the craving because they can, although do not have to, have nicotine. The vape machines don’t light up at the end because people don’t like that – they don’t like the hassle of them being confused with real cigarettes when in public places.”
One bottle of e-liquid retails at around £3 and is equivalent to 250 cigarettes.
“The price point has to be such that people will give it a go over normal or e-cigarettes,” said Chadha, who made it clear the company is targeting those who want to reduce their nicotine intake over time and not non-smokers.
KiK has been set up as a new company, although Mr Chadha said he expects to be able to leverage the retail contacts of Supreme Imports, which produces a range of branded JCB batteries for the famous digger manufacturer and also supplies major brands Duracell, Panasonic and Eveready to retailers such as Asda, Netto, Home Bargains, Maplin, Halfords and Costcutter.
He added: “The Supreme Imports business is selling batteries to retailers. We have 6,000 customers with 40,000 retail outlets so we have the distribution for this product already set up.
“It is a fast moving consumer good – something that is used and replaced – which is what we already sell. And we already sell to the outlets people would buy these products from – the high street, supermarkets, newsagents.”
