PMI Plays ZYN and IQOS at NACS 2026, Even as Pouch Strengths and Flavors Await FDA Clearance

Philip Morris International brought its full U.S. smokeless portfolio to the NACS Show in Las Vegas this week, with ZYN nicotine pouches and IQOS heated tobacco as the centrepiece of a two-floor booth that also pitched its domestic manufacturing build-out.

The exhibition ran ahead of the regulatory fine print. A PMI booth representative told 2Firsts that IQOS is sold in three U.S. states — Florida, Texas and Mississippi — and that the products on the market there are an earlier generation; the newer IQOS ILUMA system is still under FDA review. ZYN, by contrast, carries a substantial authorisation base: 31 products on the FDA's authorized nicotine pouch list as of 9 October, comprising 20 flagship 3 mg and 6 mg products granted in January 2025 and 11 ZYN Ultra products granted in August, ten in 9 mg and one in 11 mg.

The discrepancy between what PMI displayed and what the FDA has authorised is the story that retail buyers will notice. Booth materials featured ZYN Ultra in 9 mg and 11 mg, and the flagship range in 1.5 mg, 3 mg, 6 mg and 8 mg, with three new flavours — Black Cherry, Peach and Dragonberry — under a "New Flavor" heading. The FDA list carries neither the 1.5 mg nor the 8 mg flagship strength, nor ZYN Ultra Arctic Mint 11 mg, which PMI says is the commercial name for ZYN Ultra Cool Mint 11 mg; the only 11 mg Ultra on the authorisation list is ZYN Ultra Smooth 11 mg, sold as Signature Smooth. The three new flavours were also absent from the published list. PMI told 2Firsts in August that applications for the remaining 11 mg Ultra variants remain under FDA scientific review.

For context, the modified-risk orders that FDA granted in June 2026 covered the same 20 flagship products already authorised, not new ones.

The retail-facing element of the booth was a convenience-store display shelf stocked with ZYN, ZYN Ultra, IQOS devices and HEETS sticks, with digital price screens, a clear signal of how PMI expects these products to be merchandised at the counter.

The second floor was devoted to U.S. investments. The most visible item is the company's Aurora, Colorado, plant, which assembles IQOS and related devices; PMI has framed the build-out as part of a U.S. commitment, and the NACS display put it front and centre for the convenience channel that accounts for a large share of pouch and heated-tobacco sales.

For the convenience trade, the exhibition is a preview of the coming assortment: the ZYN and IQOS lines that carry FDA orders are the ones that will carry compliant shelf stock in states where they are sold, while the strengths and flavours PMI is previewing are the ones that will arrive once the review queue clears. The queue, in the agency's own numbers, is still measured in tens of thousands of applications.