From home-bought e-cigarettes sold in the harbour, to becoming Denmark's largest vejp chain, via flavour bans and competition with the black market. Vejpkollen crosses the strait and checks out how Gejser has mastered the Danish market, by only selling menthol and tobacco flavours in anonymous packaging.
Gejser is much, much bigger than any vejp chain in Sweden. They have a whopping 51 stores around Denmark and eight here in Copenhagen alone. Not one of them sells anything other than menthol and tobacco flavours in both e-juices and disposable varieties. But on the other hand, they have stretched those flavours as far and in as many varieties as possible.
On Fiolstraede, a stone's throw from the parade street Ströget, is one of all Gejser stores - and in it, store manager Joakim Kristiansen and area manager Christian Glerup welcome you.
- The shops are not franchised, so it's not my shop or anything like that. I'm just employed as a store manager," Christian tells me on this sun-drenched Friday afternoon without many customers in the store.
Sober and less colourful
On the shelves are endless amounts of vejp machines, juices, coils and everything else that is customary in vejp shops. The big difference here, apart from the limited flavours, is that everything is neatly, anonymously packaged. This is also due to Denmark's stricter laws, but at the same time has the side effect of making it look a lot more ”grown-up” than similar shops in Sweden. There, the juice packs are usually more colourful than your average children's party, and the labels are reminiscent of comic books or soft chewing gum that's easy to blow bubbles with.
But do you have almost a small monopoly on the vejp market in Denmark?
- A few years ago, when the new laws with flavour bans and other things were introduced, many shops in Denmark had to close down - because they were dependent on that type of sale. And when many of our competitors disappeared, it compensated for the possible losses it created for us. So, it was actually positive for us in the end. Our sales have increased, and we have opened more stores," says Joakim.
He does most of the talking, which is in English - but at the same time it is Christian who has the hard facts, and Joakim occasionally consults on specific figures and other matters.
There are a number of other shops still here in Copenhagen, but none anywhere near as big as Gejser.
Snus - from weird Swedish to super popular
The flavour ban on vejp came into force in 2021, making essences that taste like fruit, pastry or candy illegal in Denmark. The maximum allowed nicotine concentration is 20 milligrams per millilitre. There are restrictions on the import of disposable vejps and all forms of advertising, marketing and sponsorship of e-cigarettes are also prohibited.
As regards snus, traditional Swedish snus is banned in line with the EU Tobacco Products Directive. White snus is allowed, but is also strictly regulated. From as late as 1 July 2025, new rules will also apply, including the standardisation of packaging without logos or specific colours. There are also plans to introduce a maximum nicotine content limit of nine milligrams per packet.
As in so many other places in the world, snus, the white stuff, has seen a huge surge in popularity in Denmark.
- They have become very popular, although we don't see much of it in our stores. People might buy them more in regular kiosks," says Christian.
- It's probably not something that people go to specialised stores like us for, but buy it at places like Seven Eleven," adds Joakim.
- But it's quite funny. Ten years ago, or when I was young anyway, there was really nobody using snus. It was a super niche, weird thing that Swedes were into. But in the last maybe five to eight years, it's really exploded in popularity, especially among young people," he continues.
Had to pack everything up in one evening
Both Joakim and Christian were working in Gejser when the new laws came in 2021. It was a strange time to say the least.
- It was a crazy couple of years really. Around 80 per cent of the range suddenly became illegal and on the last night before we had to stay in the shop and pack everything up and send it back.
Did customers switch to menthol and tobacco flavours easily, or how was that transition?
- Most of them did. But of course we lost some customers who didn't just want those flavours but went to the illegal market instead," says Joakim.
The black market for vejp is quite large here, according to various reports.
- Yes, it really is huge. And to be honest, I think most vejp shops apart from us sell fruit flavours and other things under the counter. It's unusual, but if I ever need to go into any other store and shop, it's always: "we've got whatever flavour you want, just not up front".
At Gejser, however, it is entirely 'by the book'.
- "It could have been seen as tempting to look for loop holes and alternative ways of selling flavours, but we don't want to be part of that. I actually think we gain a lot of integrity, or trust, or whatever you want to call it, by everyone knowing that we follow all the rules," says Joakim.
Anything can be sold - if it resembles tobacco
For those who are somewhat familiar with how e-juices are blended, the "tobacco flavour" thing can seem a bit funny. What is "a smell and taste of tobacco" and what is the purpose of banning everything else? The "flavour" of a cigarette is what is produced when the dried tobacco leaves are burnt, and to produce something similar via artificial flavourings means that a juice maker has to mix a whole lot of flavours. Perhaps it's pear and cinnamon, along with a few other flavours, that give something reminiscent of tobacco or a cigarette, in the vapour? In Denmark, pear, cinnamon and any other flavours are banned. Unless they are mixed together, they can be claimed to taste like "tobacco". Who decides this is written in the stars. Geyser simply submits what they want to sell to the relevant authority and then gets a thumbs up or down.
- These things are decided long before the goods arrive in our stores," says Joakim.
The first vape shop in Denmark
Jeanett Andersen has the answer to how it all began. She is the communications manager at Gejser and is based at the head office in the town of Galten, in central Jutland.
- It all started when Jens (Andersen), who is the CEO, wife quit smoking with the help of vejp in 2010. Then he had an idea and invested 4000 kroner in e-cigarettes that he ordered from China or something. Then he took them down to the harbour where he worked and sold them to his colleagues," says Jeanett over a video call.
Then he opened Denmark's first vejpshop in 2012 in Aarhus, and that's the way it is. When the flavour ban hit in 2021, Gejser was already quite big with lots of shops. How they actually managed to become that is not fully understood.
- By not thinking, but just doing it," says Jeanett with a laugh.
100 flavours of menthol
Back to the shop in Copenhagen, and that business about permitted flavours. If you think that two different flavours, tobacco and menthol, sound a bit weak, you're still quite wrong. Joakim shows you around and lists a huge selection.
- Here you have some different kinds of menthol, like menthol tobacco, ice menthol, classic menthol, green menthol, double menthol, white menthol, intense menthol, peppermint, spearmint and so on. We have hundreds of different flavours of both menthol and tobacco," he says.
Both Joakim and Jeanett are aware that they lose some income to Sweden, through people travelling over and stocking up. But they lose even more to the black market.
- In Denmark, it's very easy to buy what you want. People just go on Facebook, Snapchat or something and order - and it comes home a day later. So most people don't even have to go over to Sweden," says Jeanett.
