Gama and Sabine Loos
From 15th to 17th September, InterTabac and its co-located events NUBIZ and InterSupply once again served as a focal point for the global nicotine industry and emerging nicotine-free categories at Messe Dortmund in Germany. Spanning ten exhibition halls, the event gathered around 750 exhibiting companies from 64 countries alongside a substantial international contingent of trade visitors. Highlighting the broad reach of the event, roughly 60% of the overall visitor base travelled from overseas, including delegates from as far afield as the USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, as well as key European markets.
Gama and Don Fabio Cigars: chief executive Fabio Cordella with partners Guillermo Rico, Amauri and Diego Lugano
Ahead of the main exhibition floors opening, the Cigar Culture Summit was convened on Monday at the venue’s North Entrance, attracting around 250 participants for a six-hour educational programme concentrated on market expansion, product development, specialist retail strategies and regulatory developments affecting the cigar sector.
Gama and Wulf
A central focus of the 2026 conference schedule was the evolving regulatory landscape at both the national and regional levels, with educational panels and presentations addressing compliance, policy direction and market orientation seeing particularly high attendance. Within this framework, presentations particularly addressed the legal uncertainty surrounding nicotine pouches across Europe, a category recognized as one of the most dynamic within the next-generation product market.
Across the exhibition halls, technical and formulation trends were evident across several product categories, particularly through the continued adoption of natural and herbal ingredients. In the pouch segment, formulations on show included those inspired by the concepts of traditional Indian medicine, as well as those containing ingredients such as ashwagandha, typically positioned for their mood-enhancing benefits.
Gama and Sifaco Group
Elsewhere, cacao was introduced into pouch matrices to deliver energy, with the influence of food-grade ingredients also extending to traditional formats, demonstrated by cigars incorporating tobacco leaves fermented inside wine barrels to mirror the flavour profiles of aged spirits. Additionally, regional culinary flavours made a noticeable appearance, underlined by one particular brand offering a nicotine pouch touting the flavour of Dubai chocolate.
Read this Tradeshow Insight in the next issue of Gama News.
Hardware and delivery technology similarly demonstrated notable evolution, particularly within the oral nicotine, nasal delivery and vaping sectors. This included ultra-thin, leaf-shaped pouches introduced to reduce thickness while accelerating nicotine and flavour delivery speeds. In the hardware space, vaping devices were paired with versatile charging accessories, including multi-way wireless charging pads, while ultrasonic cold nebulisation technology was featured in prototype form. Alternative nasal delivery mechanisms were also displayed, including flavoured “nasal powders” as well as specialised nasal vaping devices.
The next edition of InterTabac, NUBIZ, and InterSupply is scheduled to take place from 14th to 16th September 2027.
