All-In-One Disposable Trends
Historically, cartridges have been the preferred hardware choice over disposables. However, a growing trend in the vape space for the past year has been the rise of the disposable vape subcategory.
According to BDSA, from the start of 2022 to the end of 2022, disposable vapes have grown from a 13% share of vape dollar sales to 17%.
32% of vape consumers report past six-month disposable vape consumption, while 17% state that they prefer disposable vapes (over vape cartridges), up from 9% in Spring 2020.
With a portfolio of 14 disposables and after working with over 1000+ cannabis brands, we at Jupiter compiled our insights and recommendations in this AIOs 2023 guide.
Design is King
Flawless device performance is mandatory, but vape brands are looking beyond that to differentiate themselves in highly competitive markets.
Our customers’ most common requests are reliable hardware and a variety of highly brandable, unique product designs.
The Pen style is the classic, traditional offering. Consumers are most familiar with pen-style disposables.
In the past few years, the rise of nicotine vaping has influenced the cannabis market. The trendy pod-style nicotine disposables have become the go-to for Gen Z and millennials. With their popularity, it’s no wonder the same Gen Z and millennial consumers in the cannabis market have widely adopted pod-style vapes.
According to the latest reports from Headset, Gen Z and millennials make up 70.8% of all vaporizer sales.
In 2020, we developed an exclusive to Jupiter, pod-style all-in-one (AIO): LiquidX™ Infinity, available in 0.3 mL and 1.0mL.
But that was just the beginning of our journey to introduce a wide range of AIO platforms to the market.
In the past 12 months, Jupiter launched seven new CCELL® AIO platforms that stand out from the rest with their product design and larger capacity offerings.
The Need for Large Capacity Disposables
According to Headset, the 1g cartridges are the industry’s best-seller, accounting for ~70% of total Vapor Pen sales.
The same trend follow in the disposable category, making the 1g disposables the fastest-growing category.
To address this demand, we introduce a series of rechargeable & highly customizable, larger-capacity disposables that work flawlessly. The consumer must be 100% satisfied with a 1g rechargeable disposable to enjoy the product until the very last drop of oil.
Many vape brands chose the CCELL® AIO large-capacity disposables for quality, safety, and the lowest defection rates in the industry.
– Michelle Zerphey,
Senior Director Sales North America at Jupiter Research.
Being able to recharge the battery of a large-capacity disposable is the most important feature. Without that, you risk the battery dying before finishing the oil—which is a huge waste of money for the consumer.
Know your Target Audience and Choose your AIO Platforms Strategically
Brands offering more budget-friendly products can benefit by offering a 1mL disposable alongside their cartridge offerings.
“A larger disposable is more attractive to someone who uses cannabis regularly and is looking for a value purchase in the sense that if you did a comparison in dollar spent on THC per product, you’re really looking for what you would argue is the most bang for the buck. So the larger the device, typically the lower the price per milligram of THC. When you look at a more price-conscious shopper, I think this is a strong argument for why they should purchase larger devices—there’s simply more value there.”
– Mark Carnevale,
Strategic Accounts Manager
Jupiter Research
Our experience with both new and established cannabis brands shows that when a company wants to introduce a new type of product to the market, the least risky way to do so is to introduce a low-cost, smaller-capacity disposable first. This strategy requires a much smaller investment in a market test. The brand can then successfully expand into larger-capacity AIOs and cartridges if the market receives the product well.
In today’s market, many smart players offer more than one disposable vape. Our customers often introduce new disposable designs to test if they can increase their market share by appealing to new customer segments.
Differentiate Your Brand
In mature markets, brands seek to differentiate themselves through innovative product formulations, product design, and branding. Our job is to facilitate these and offer as many options as possible from the hardware perspective
Some brands are looking beyond the pen style and JUUL-inspired pod style. We’ve seen our customers triple their sales by successfully launching products with less traditional form factors. For example, CCELL Owa, Listo, and Sima.
CCELL® Owa is a pod-style disposable with a round-cut mouthpiece. Owa’s unique product design is one of its main selling points for the end users.
CCELL® Sima is a rechargeable 1mL with a unique and ergonomic design. It can be customized and branded at maximum.
Disposables: A Canvas for Your Vape Brand
Performance is Hidden Inside the Atomizer
And last but not least, oil viscosity. Often, this criteria is the main driver when brands seek to choose the right hardware.
The thicker the oil, the more difficult it is to heat it. Oils rich in terpenes tend to be more liquid and thus easier to heat withthe hardware.
Chances are, even if you find the right hardware, you might have to customize its atomizer even further to make it work perfectly for your concentrate.
“Jupiter has a portfolio of 13 different disposables. They are all performant but also slightly different. The power of the atomizer impacts the retention of terpenes. Regarding performance, brands operate with a nine-watt, eight-watt, seven-watt, or six-watt atomizer. Using the lowest power setting will help retain the flavor of the terpenes best.
Normally we do not recommend brands to go with the highest power because the oil’s taste changes over time. Every time you heat that concentrate to a high temperature, you lose a bit of its natural terpenes. This is especially true with concentrates like hash and rosin. Our customers are working really hard on their concentrate craft. We do our best to provide hardware that protects against burning and degradation.”
– Kip Simmerman,
Account Executive
Jupiter Research
And last but not least, we always tell our customers to run multiple tests before launching any product. The more people that test the hardware with product before launching, the better.
The engineering team at Jupiter Research recommends testing the user experience on a scale from one to seven. The most important criteria to measure are:
- Vapor volume
- Vapor temperature
- Taste/Flavor
- Mouthfeel/Throat feel
- Airflow
- Overall performance
Performance is Hidden Inside the Atomizer
And last but not least, oil viscosity. Often, this criteria is the main driver when brands seek to choose the right hardware.
The thicker the oil, the more difficult it is to heat it. Oils rich in terpenes tend to be more liquid and thus easier to heat withthe hardware.
Chances are, even if you find the right hardware, you might have to customize its atomizer even further to make it work perfectly for your concentrate.
“Besides design and aesthetics, the cannabis consumer is leaning more and more toward vape products that are as close as possible to the plant. So, innovation in the disposables market means better technology that preserves the gentle compounds and terpenes. With the rise in popularity of niche concentrates, the demand for non-degrading hardware is even greater because extracts like rosins, for example, are highly susceptible to oxidation or influence from heating and reheating, which causes the hash to degrade.”
– Oggie Fitzpatrick,
Vice President of Research & Development
Jupiter Research
THE NEWEST ALL-IN-ONE
Flex is the latest disposable from CCELL®; the device can be customized to fit any oil window shape: square, rectangle, circle, ellipse, or even a star.
