Why Counterfeit Pouches From China Are Flooding The UK Market

Walk into a corner shop in any UK city and you’ll find tins of nicotine pouches that look just like the major brands — same colours, same fonts, often the same flavour names. A growing share of them never came from VELO, ZYN, Nordic Spirit, or any registered manufacturer. They came from contract factories in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian. Border Force seizures of counterfeit nicotine products rose sharply through 2023, 2024 and 2025.

1. The infrastructure already exists

China is the global manufacturing hub for the vape industry — Shenzhen produces an estimated 90% of the world’s e-cigarettes. The same factories, and the same supply chains for nicotine, flavourings and packaging, pivoted into pouches the moment the category exploded.

2. Pouches are easy to fake

Unlike a cigarette, a nicotine pouch is just a small fibre sachet filled with a powder mix. The packaging — a printed plastic tin — is the most visible part of the product. Counterfeit operations can match the tin almost perfectly while putting anything they like inside.

3. The price ceiling is high

A tin of authentic pouches sells in the UK for £5–£8. Counterfeits can be manufactured for pennies and sold at £2–£3 wholesale — a margin big enough to fund quite sophisticated operations, including full-colour printing, custom moulds and even fake batch codes.

4. Enforcement has been patchy

Until the Tobacco and Vapes Act came into force, pouches sat outside the specific tobacco enforcement regime. Trading Standards has limited resources, and customs officials have historically prioritised illicit cigarettes and vapes. That gave counterfeiters a wide-open window.

5. Online marketplaces accelerate it

Counterfeits don’t have to clear a UK distributor anymore. A buyer in Manchester can order direct from a marketplace listing, the package gets relabelled in transit, and it arrives in a plain envelope. Marketplaces have improved detection but remain reactive, not proactive.

What this means for you

The new UK restrictions on legitimate flavours and strengths may make grey-market and counterfeit versions more attractive to unscrupulous resellers. The single biggest thing you can do as a buyer is stop chasing the lowest price online and stick to known, named UK retailers. The £2 you save isn’t worth the risk.