ZYN Ultra: PMI goes moist and high-strength to hold off Velo and On!
Philip Morris launched ZYN Ultra in the US in June 2026 — a moist, slim pouch line in 9mg and 11mg, 20 pouches per can, eight flavours, at a lower per-pouch price than flagship dry ZYN. It is PMI's biggest ZYN format change yet, built to slow share losses to Velo Plus, FRE and ALP.
Philip Morris International has made the biggest structural change to ZYN since the brand became synonymous with US nicotine pouches. In June 2026 it shipped ZYN Ultra — a moist, slim pouch line in 9mg and 11mg strengths, 20 pouches per can, across eight flavours, at a lower list price-per-pouch than the flagship dry ZYN range.
PMI Group CEO Jacek Olczak confirmed the launch at the 2026 dbAccess Global Consumer Conference in Paris on 2 June 2026, per a PMI press release filed with the SEC. "U.S. ZYN portfolio expansion, including the launch of ZYN ULTRA this month in 9mg and 11mg moist variants," the release stated, noting the 20-pouch can and the lower per-pouch price as "an important step in optimizing ZYN's price premium."
This is not a flavour refresh. It is PMI conceding that the dry mini pouch that built the category is no longer enough.
What ZYN Ultra actually is
The flagship ZYN line that dominated the US is a dry mini pouch in 3mg and 6mg, 15 pouches per can. ZYN Ultra flips nearly every one of those parameters:
| Flagship ZYN | ZYN Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Small mini pouch | Larger slim pouch |
| Moisture | Dry (needs saliva to activate) | Moist (immediate flavour and nicotine release) |
| Nicotine | 3mg, 6mg | 9mg, 11mg |
| Pouches per can | 15 | 20 |
| Positioning | Price-premium flagship | Lower list price-per-pouch |
The shift to a moist, slim format is the part that matters most for users. Dry pouches have drawn persistent complaints about dry mouth — the same complaints BAT's Velo Plus exploited when it launched its own moist formulation, Bloomberg reported in May. ZYN Ultra's moist pouches are engineered for faster nicotine absorption and immediate flavour without the saliva lag.
The eight flavours
Per Tobacco Insider, ZYN Ultra debuted in 9mg across eight flavours, with 11mg scheduled to follow across the same line-up later in June:
- Wintergreen Blast — bold wintergreen with menthol cooling
- Arctic Mint — crisp, icy mint, minimal sweetness
- Peppermint Frost — sweet peppermint with a menthol lift
- Fresh Spearmint — smoother, natural green mint
- Citrus Zest — lemon and orange-peel tang with light cooling
- Menthol Ice — sharp menthol chill over a clean base
- Signature Smooth — neutral, balanced, mild
- Chill Mist — airy, soft mint, subdued cooling
Six of the eight are mint or menthol profiles; only Citrus Zest breaks the mint run. That flavour mix signals PMI is targeting the high-strength, mint-forward preferences of experienced pouch users rather than recruiting new ones.
Why PMI needed this
ZYN still leads the US nicotine pouch market, but its grip has been slipping. Over roughly 18 months the brand has lost share to fast-growing competitors — most notably Velo Plus, FRE and ALP — that had already moved to slim, moist, higher-strength formats while ZYN stayed dry and premium-priced. Tobacco Insider describes ZYN Ultra as PMI's "direct defensive counter-offensive" to plug that gap.
The pricing shift is just as pointed. By moving to a 20-pouch can at a lower per-pouch price, PMI aligns ZYN with the packaging and value benchmarks competitors already set — roughly a 16% per-pouch value improvement versus the flagship, per Tobacco Insider's analysis. For a brand that long traded on a price premium, that is a meaningful concession.
We covered the market-share numbers in detail in our Q2 2026 ZYN analysis: US ZYN shipment growth slowed sharply as Velo Plus and Altria's On! Plus gained ground, and PMI flagged an "uneven competitive landscape." ZYN Ultra is the product answer to that problem.
Where to buy
Haypp Group made ZYN Ultra available through its US online retailers Nicokick.com and Northerner.com as of 15 June 2026, starting with the 9mg range across all eight flavours, per Tobacco Reporter. The 11mg line followed later in June.
Compare ZYN prices across retailers at PouchFinder.
What's next
ZYN Ultra is one piece of a broader US push. Per PMI's June release, "further extensions are planned for ZYN over the remainder of the year," and the company has said it will accelerate US investments in the second half of 2026, particularly behind ZYN as it prepares for the IQOS ILUMA US launch.
Reported extensions include 1.5mg and 8mg dry variants slated for Q3 2026, broadening the flagship dry line at both the low and mid-strength ends. And on 30 June 2026 the FDA granted Modified Risk Tobacco Product authorization to 20 flagship ZYN variants — the first and only such authorization for any nicotine pouch — giving PMI a regulatory differentiator no competitor currently holds.
The open question is whether moist, high-strength, better-value ZYN Ultra arrives in time to slow the share bleed — or whether Velo, On! and the rest have already reset what US pouch buyers expect from the format.
SOURCES:
- Philip Morris International (SEC filing, press release): PMI Participates in 2026 dbAccess Global Consumer Conference — ZYN ULTRA launch announcement (2 June 2026)
- Tobacco Insider: Philip Morris Launches ZYN Ultra in the US: Higher Strength & Moist Slim Pouches (16 June 2026)
- Tobacco Reporter: Haypp Announces Zyn Ultra Launch Across U.S. (16 June 2026)
- NACS: PMI Expands Its Zyn Lineup in the U.S. (23 July 2026)