Importer and distributor of nicotine products
Suomen Tuontiliike is an import and distribution company specialising in nicotine products. Our head office is in Vaasa and logistics are handled from a centre in Vantaa operated by our partner. We serve almost every grocery retail chain in Finland as well as the sector's specialist shops.
Two complete overhauls of the Tobacco Act
The company was founded in 2011. We were among the first companies in Finland to work with e-liquids, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and, later, nicotine pouches.
In that time we have lived through two complete overhauls of the Tobacco Act. Both changed what may be on the shelf and how it may be sold. That experience shaped the way we work: keeping up with regulation is part of the job, and we tell customers about changes before they take effect rather than after.
We work with three regulated product categories: e-cigarettes (vapes), e-liquids and nicotine pouches.
We also see the market from behind the counter
We operate our own chain of specialist shops for nicotine products, Nicotine. That is unusual for a wholesaler, and it is where most of what we know about this market comes from.
Regulatory change reaches the shop first
A change in the law means rearranging shelves, training staff and going through stock. We see it at first hand, because we do it ourselves — and we tell our customers what a change means day to day, because we have worked it out ourselves first.
Products go through the same assessment
The same assessment applies to our own chain and to our other customers. We do not recommend products we would not stock ourselves.
Nicotine's role is to set the direction for the sector, to work transparently and to reduce the stigma attached to it. We are aware of the social responsibility that comes with this sector, and we believe we can influence it best through a specialist shop chain of our own.
We own stakes in other companies in the sector
We are not only a supplier looking at the market from the outside.
Besides the Nicotine specialist shop chain, we hold stakes in other companies in the sector, and we have brands of our own that we distribute alongside the other brands we represent. We do not own factories.
The same arrangement is familiar from grocery retail: a chain has its own labels and still carries competing products on the shelf. It works when the selection criteria are the same for everyone. For us they are compliance with the regulations, our own assessment of the product and reliability of supply — not who owns the product.
In practice, our holdings mean that our customers hear about changes in cost and availability early, because we see them from several directions.
Three principles
We know what we sell
We handle products that are harmful to health. We work openly from that starting point and do not dress it up.
We speak plainly
We do not present any product category as less harmful and we make no health claims. There is a great deal of inaccurate information about this sector — we do not add to it.
Substance misuse prevention
We work with substance-misuse prevention organisations whenever they ask for our help.
The same responsibility shows in our range decisions. Our range is not the widest on the market but a considered one: every product goes through our assessment, and we act as a filter on our customers' behalf.
A small organisation
We are a small organisation, and it shows when you deal with us. If you represent a point of sale, open a B2B portal account. If you represent a manufacturer or a brand, tell us about your product. Names, roles and direct numbers are on the contact page.