delivery supported by expert advice and customer care from its passionate staff . The team is now geared up for vape shops to once again take their place as the entry point to vaping for millions of smokers . Sales Director Amanda Egan told Vapouround : “ We are looking forward to having increased footfall on the high street once more . “ We have a range of special offers back to the doorstep and a robust COVID policy to ensure they have a safe shopping experience .” the day and we want to provide support where we can , so we are launching the EL-Science £ 250,000 industry support package . Scan the QR code on the front of the magazine for more info .”
Florian Vogal of German brand Barehead E-Liquids is hugely thankful to have been able to continue working over the past year with relatively few changes to the company ’ s day-to-day operations . Sales shifted more online and they were able to experience monthly growth . But Florian is excited about the long-awaited return of physical vape shops which continue to play a huge role in helping smokers quit . He said : “ For so many people , this is where the information comes from and the initial consultation is key in regards to effectively switching to e-cigarette products . Now is the time to give back and support offline retailers as much as we can to help them back on their feet to continuously do the awesome work they ’ re doing . “ We ’ ve been working behind the scenes for the last couple of months to think of new ways to really help support vape shops , which we ’ re going to tackle and roll out soon .” Florian is also calling on vapers to do the same . “ Support your local vape shop ! We have all been affected in one way or another during this period - some more than others . That ’ s why we need to stand together and give back where we can . Much love to anyone who has supported BAREHEAD during this time !”
Shaun Wedgwood is technical director of EL-Science . The e-liquid manufacturing and analysis service saw a shift in demand for its services and from customers in 17 Phoenix Vapers stores . Shaun said : “ We saw a significant drop off in TPD work but an equally significant rise in Product Risk Assessment inquiries which mirrored what we were seeing in our stores . “ Customers were commenting that they liked that we had them available in store , in a similar way to when the damaging USA media stories were circulating in 2019 . There is certainly a correlation from the consumer when health is at the forefront of people ’ s minds . “ I think , and hope that going forward the world in general takes stock and better prepares for these “ black swan ” events and maybe focuses on what ’ s truly important rather than focusing on our differences .” For the industry , that means focusing on making safe products for health-conscious consumers , which Shaun believes will encourage more smokers to switch . He said : “ We really believe that the industry overall is saving lives by
How have you found the past 12 months and how has King Kong Vape Juice adapted ? King Kong Vape Juice launched in January 2020 and the pandemic soon hit us with forecasted sales dropping by large numbers , however , we overcame this and won two awards , sold thousands of bottles online and diversified into selling PPE and hand sanitisers . Kong Worldwide is now one of the fastest growing PPE providers together with their premium juices . How do you feel about vape shops re-opening ? Vape retailers and wholesalers are our biggest clients and we thank Prime Minister Boris Johnson for opening them back up .
Is there anything you would like to say to your customers ? We would like to say thank you for all your continued support throughout the pandemic and we hope you continue loving our flavours .
The Zen Vaper CEO and founder Don Thompson is in good spirits . “ I got a chance to write the largest cheque I ’ ve ever written in my entire life , to pay for an order that I ’ m shipping out to a big distributor . It made me smile because I actually have the money in the bank to cash it . “ We ’ re taking a couple more steps towards becoming that big boy e-liquid maker that I dreamed about being a couple of years ago .” Things were not looking quite so hopeful a year ago . The global industry was still reeling from the EVALI outbreak and talk of a federal flavour ban had buyers running scared . Then , word got out about ‘ this COVID-19 thing .’ “ Little did we know , the pandemic would affect the entire world ,” Don said . “ I came back from a show the weekend before the USA shutdown . I was planning on leaving the following weekend to go to Singapore for my first international show . “ I was going to go on a nine country , four continent tour to expand my business globally . And then it was like somebody pulled the plug .” The next few months were a rollercoaster of lockdowns and cautious re-openings . And by June when vape shops were beginning to open up again , Don had no one to make his e-liquid . He closed his lab with maybe $ 200 in his account . “ I would have joined the other folks who went out of business because the pandemic shut down all of my end users . My retail was going good , but vape shops in the UK were shut down for four months and then they opened up and then closed again . “ The buyers for the vape shops didn ’ t know what to do , they don ’ t
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