Key Points
- Nordic Spirit has become Co-op Live’s Official Nicotine Pouch Partner under a long-term agreement.
- The brand will run in-venue activations for existing adult nicotine consumers and sell products at selected bars.
- Co-op Live in Manchester has a maximum capacity of 23,500 and is the UK’s largest indoor live entertainment arena.
- The UK intends to introduce comprehensive advertising and sponsorship restrictions for vaping and nicotine products from June 1, 2027; the partnership was entered into before the relevant sponsorship restrictions.
2Firsts
September 7, 2026
According to UK retail trade publication Grocery Trader on September 3, 2026, Japan Tobacco International’s nicotine pouch brand Nordic Spirit has signed a long-term partnership with Manchester’s Co-op Live, becoming the venue’s Official Nicotine Pouch Partner.
Under the agreement, Nordic Spirit will deliver in-venue activations aimed at existing adult nicotine consumers, while its products will also be available for purchase at selected bars inside the arena.
The partnership comes as the UK prepares for a major change in the rules governing the marketing and sponsorship of nicotine products.
Nordic Spirit Moves Into Major Live Entertainment
Opened in 2024 on Manchester’s Etihad Campus, Co-op Live can accommodate up to 23,500 people and describes itself as the UK’s largest indoor live entertainment arena.
The venue hosts major music acts, sporting events and comedy shows.
For Nordic Spirit, the agreement expands the brand beyond conventional grocery, convenience and independent retail channels into a large-scale live entertainment setting.
Jason De Lencastre, Consumer & Brand Activation Lead Manager at JTI UK, said the partnership was intended to help adult nicotine users remain inside the venue throughout an event rather than leaving to smoke or vape.
Co-op Live Senior Vice President and General Manager Guy Dunstan said the venue plans to work with JTI on a range of in-venue activations.
Smoke- and Vapour-Free Format Supports Venue Strategy
Nordic Spirit is a tobacco-free nicotine pouch product that does not generate smoke or vapour during use.
That format allows nicotine pouches to be used in some indoor environments where smoking or vaping may be restricted.
In the UK, Nordic Spirit is sold across strength levels from Regular to Max and in flavours including Sweet Mint, Raspberry, Dark Fizz and Blueberry.
Commercially, the Co-op Live agreement therefore goes beyond simple product distribution. It links the characteristics of nicotine pouches with a specific consumption occasion: extended attendance at live entertainment events.
For nicotine pouch brands, arenas provide long-duration consumer occasions and concentrated adult audiences, while the smoke- and vapour-free format creates a different set of use-case opportunities from cigarettes and vaping products.
Timing Matters as UK Sponsorship Rules Change
Grocery Trader specifically noted that the long-term agreement was entered into before the introduction of the relevant sponsorship restrictions.
The UK’s Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 extends advertising and sponsorship controls to vaping and other nicotine products.
The Department of Health and Social Care has said the government intends to implement a comprehensive ban on advertising and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products from June 1, 2027.
At present, other nicotine products such as nicotine pouches are not subject to a comprehensive advertising and sponsorship ban comparable with tobacco.
The new framework will make certain business sponsorship arrangements that promote vaping or nicotine products an offence once the relevant provisions are in force.
The timing of the Nordic Spirit agreement, however, is legally significant.
Section 131 of the Tobacco and Vapes Act links the new sponsorship offence for vaping and nicotine products to when an agreement is entered into and when the relevant provisions take effect. Grocery Trader states that the Nordic Spirit-Co-op Live agreement predates the relevant restrictions.
It would therefore be inaccurate to state simply that the partnership will automatically become prohibited in 2027. Its treatment will depend on commencement rules, secondary legislation and further government guidance.
UK Nicotine Pouch Marketing Environment Set to Change
The UK government has acknowledged that nicotine pouches currently face no comprehensive advertising and sponsorship restrictions.
That environment is set to change under the new legislation.
The government intends to expand the regulatory framework to cover sponsorship, online advertising and other forms of promotion for nicotine products.
The transition from 2026 into 2027 could therefore become an important dividing line for nicotine pouch marketing strategies in the UK.
Nordic Spirit’s Co-op Live agreement illustrates both JTI’s effort to expand the brand’s physical consumer touchpoints and the importance of timing as the UK moves toward tighter marketing controls.
Beyond the Retail Shelf
Nordic Spirit is already distributed through major UK supermarkets, independent retailers and online channels.
Its entry into Co-op Live represents a further attempt to build consumer touchpoints beyond the retail shelf and into specific usage occasions.
More broadly, nicotine pouch competition is increasingly extending beyond strength, flavour and retail distribution into lifestyle and entertainment settings.
As the UK moves toward comprehensive restrictions on nicotine-product advertising and sponsorship, however, the ways brands can use venue partnerships, activations and consumer communications will become increasingly shaped by regulation.
The significance of the Co-op Live deal therefore lies not only in Nordic Spirit entering the UK’s largest indoor arena, but also in the fact that the agreement arrives at a transition point for nicotine pouch marketing rules.
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Cover Image: Grocery Trader
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