COVER STORY
Sound
the
alarm
2018 WAS ANOTHER FULL-ON YEAR FOR RIOT SQUAD
BY GORDON STRIBLING
Riot Squad is one of the most recognised e-liquid brands in the UK. The company has developed a reputation for bringing the
party with them wherever they go.
We caught up with CEO Ben Johnson to talk awards, expos and Christmas parties.
WHAT UNITES THE RIOT LABS BRANDS?
I would like to say it’s the personality but mostly, it’s the unique
and punchy tasting flavours. We make all of our ranges in-house
from a molecular level. Our lab team has complete control over
every part of our complex flavour profiles, assuring that they
taste amazing, are completely unique and can’t be replicated
elsewhere.
Whether it’s our original Riot Squad, Punk Grenade or our newly
re-branded Ghetto Penguin, every batch goes through the same
development procedure. We test every single batch to assure the
highest quality.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE WON AND BEEN PLACED
ON SO MANY VAPOUROUND AWARDS?
It feels great – so great that some of them got slightly damaged
when we were celebrating. We take our awards really seriously
and are very proud to have so many. We recently won Best Fruit
at Vapexpo Madrid for Pink Grenade and Spain has gone on to
become a really strong market for us. The array of awards and
nominations we have for Best Stand, Best Fruits, Best Marketing,
Best Cocktails etc just keep us striving as a team.
WHAT’S CHRISTMAS LIKE AT RIOT SQUAD HQ?
It’s lively at Riot Squad HQ all year round, but even more so at
Christmas. For our retailers’ benefit, we stay open for sales and
dispatch all over Christmas except the Bank Holidays. Although
we are all working, we don’t forget to have a little fun.
In previous years we have spent the night at The Box nightclub
in London. However, this year we have something crazy planned.
I can’t go into too much detail because this article is going to be
printed before the event and I like to keep it a surprise, but I will
say that it includes drag queens and lots of tequila.
44 | VM20
YOU’RE A REGULAR FIXTURE ON THE EXPO SCENE.
WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE RIOT SQUAD
STAND?
We absolutely love expos, so this is a tough question. I can’t
give you my number one but here are my favourites in no
particular order:
Riot Squad launch @ Vaper Expo October 2016:
Unsuspecting attendees were arrested by our police actors
for vaping flavour. People really seemed to get on board and
understand our riotous ethos as a brand. This also won us Best
Stand at the expo.
We revisited this at Vapexpo Madrid this year, with the addition of
converted cabin made to look like an official police station. At this
expo we won Best Fruit.
Iron Bruise launch @ Vaper Expo May 2017:
A custom-built Scottish castle erected inside the exhibition hall
made complete with 20 actors, 20 dancers, seven Scottish bag
pipers and an Iron Bruise theme tune. We were so busy that we
had people queuing all day to go in. This also won Best Stand!
Vapexpo Paris October 2018:
Using Punk Grenade as inspiration, we created a punk club/pub
like environment and offered people free alcohol along with the
four new flavours while they relaxed and had fun.