JUUL Labs Korea will cease local operation just a year after it rolled out its flavored e-cigarette device JUUL nationwide, the company said.
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In a statement, the company said it intended to cease operations in Korea as its effort to refurbish its portfolio “would not be available as anticipated.”
JUUL Labs began its business in Korea in May last year, launching a series of products, but saw its operation jeopardized just five months later, as the Ministry of Health and Welfare in October asked the public to stop use liquid type e-cigarettes, citing health concerns.
As domestic retailers stopped selling JUUL products following the government announcement, JUUL Labs Korea launched a restructuring earlier this year to “re-establish a viable business,” but failed to win back consumers’ trust.
“We entered into a restructuring process, largely based on significant cost reductions and the need to innovate the product portfolio. However, these innovations will not be available as anticipated,” the company said in a statement.
It said its performance has not met expectations in terms of meeting the needs of our Korean smokers to successfully transition from combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes.
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The company added that it aimed to work collaboratively with the ministry and other relevant government agencies to ensure that its “product offerings can successfully achieve their objective to reduce smoking and smoking-related diseases and deaths caused by the use of combustible cigarettes,” but its performance “has not met expectations in terms of meeting the needs of our Korean adult smokers to successfully transition from combustible cigarettes.”
(Source: Korea Times)