Tracking innovation in the tobacco industry over the decades

In October 2021, archaeologists made an astounding discovery: humans have been using tobacco for much longer than initially believed. 

Tobacco seeds more than 12,000 years old were found at Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert — setting the timeline of man's tobacco use back by 9,000 years.

In the United Kingdom, the tobacco industry is worth about £8 billion. Surprisingly, this market is not as monolithic as one would assume. 

Over time, we’ve found ways to transform it into a diverse group of products — some vastly different from tobacco’s pure form. So below, we are going to track these changes as they occurred throughout history.

Traditional tobacco

Tobacco is believed to have originated in South America, where historians say ancient Mayans made the first cigars by wrapping tobacco in palm or plantain leaves. From here, it made its way to North America, where it was used in a completely different manner.

In an undated article titled Traditional Tobacco, the Keep It Sacred National Native Network explains that American Indians primarily used tobacco as a medicine with cultural and religious significance.

This tobacco was not prepared as it is today. Instead, it was used in its pure form to treat everything from colds to toothache.

Though the plant would be burned or smoked, its smoke was generally not inhaled. Keep It Sacred explains that this is because many tribes believed the smoke helped them communicate with their respective deities.

Global popularity

During the Age of Exploration, tobacco's popularity spread to the Old World. From here, it reached the rest of the globe via extensive colonial networks.

At first, Europeans also used the plant for medicinal purposes by consuming it as snuff. Originally from Brazil, snuff consists of finely ground tobacco leaves and is directly inhaled through the nostrils.

Spanish and Portuguese explorers also popularised recreational smoking, which spurred demand for pipe smoking and cigars.

Tobacco eventually reached Asia, and Asians were instrumental in spreading its use even further. In fact, an undated article from Tobacco in Australia titled A Brief History of Tobacco Smoking in Australia reveals that Indonesian fishermen first introduced tobacco use to their native communities.

This is despite the fact that tobacco is actually indigenous to the continent.

Brown gold

Former American colonies had few precious metals like gold and silver, causing tobacco to become a currency of sorts. Dubbed as "brown gold," the value of tobacco was even backed by the international gold standard.

Tobacco facilitated trades between colonials and Native Americans and was even used to pay for various government fees like taxes. Global demand for tobacco further established its position as a highly lucrative cash crop, and it was planted everywhere from America to Cuba and Zimbabwe.

The plant's popularity also drove innovation during this period of time. People discovered new ways to cure tobacco: instead of covering crops with hay to "sweat" it, fires were used to colour tobacco leaves a vivid yellow.

Then there's chew, a Native American method of chewing and spitting out moist tobacco, which was the most popular tobacco product at the time. It took on a new form when Americans began mixing tobacco with molasses to add flavour.

Mass production and mainstream popularity

The Industrial Revolution transformed nearly every part of human life by introducing manufacturing to the world. This was instrumental in further bringing cigars and cigarettes into the mainstream.

Both of these tobacco products were notoriously complex to make by hand. The modern cigarette was specifically made from cigar scraps to make smoking cheaper and more accessible to the masses.

The World History Encyclopedia explained in the 2019 piece Bonsack's Cigarette Rolling Machine that James Albert Bonsackin invented the first means of mass production for cigarettes in the 1880s.

This helped the cigarette's popularity skyrocket. Soldiers in the American Civil War and both World Wars began smoking in their free time. Once TV and radio were around, Golden Age Hollywood stars like Lucille Ball and Clark Gable were advertising cigarettes on the airwaves.

A shift to alternatives

In the ‘70s, governments began regulating tobacco advertisements. As a result, these companies began marketing by innovating their tobacco products. They did so by removing tobacco, then instead isolating the nicotine they contained.

The first such product that was invented was nicotine chewing gum from the Swedish company Nicorette in 1971. This became the world's first widely available smokeless tobacco alternative. The nicotine patch, which followed in 1984, adhered to and delivered nicotine through the skin.

Because nicotine patches can deliver controlled doses of nicotine to the body, it is often used to wean smokers out of nicotine addiction while preventing uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.

Yet another invention of the time was heated tobacco, which also emerged in the '80s. True to its name, it heats tobacco enough for users to inhale nicotine, but does not produce any smoke. All these alternatives were made for traditional tobacco users looking to avoid tobacco side effects like smoke odour and stained teeth.

21st century creations

This wave of innovation continued at the turn of the century with the nicotine lozenge in 2002. In 2003, Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik invented the e-cigarette, which uses water vapour to deliver nicotine, as an alternative for smokers who didn't prefer smokeless nicotine products.

Then there’s the nicotine pouch, which was also invented in 2003 but only became more popular in recent years. These tiny packets contain either tobacco-derived or synthetic nicotine and flavourings and are placed between the gum and the upper lip.

Today, Prilla is one of the leading online retailers specialising in nicotine pouches. This has made the pouches more accessible to consumers across the United States, and beyond.

In addition, Prilla outlines that modern designs last for longer and are more discreet than other nicotine alternatives, which has opened them up to a much larger audience.

From originating as a medicinal plant and even a widely used currency, tobacco has come a long way. Nowadays, the tobacco industry offers a host of innovative products that answer a wide range of consumer needs.

It's interesting to see how the tobacco industry has changed throughout the years. Much similar is the development of the CBD market, which we covered in a previous article entitled ‘Overview Of The CBD Oil Market In The UK Going Into 2022’.

Those interested in the growth of the CBD market can look into the article to learn about predictions, trends, and history related to CBD oil in the UK.