Interview with Florian Haidorf – hookah flavors ban, Germany and Russian laws.

Hi Florian, can you please tell a few words about yourself, who you are where are you from and how long are you in hookah industry?

Hi Stan!
I’ve been in the hookah scene for more than 10 years now. I have my own online hookah shop and another local hookah store for 7 years. I help in various projects – for example, the HookahBattle or the ShishaMesse and I also own the largest German-language website blog and the world’s leading Hookah database – SmokeDex.

Can you please tell more about your hookah shop?

I  was an avid shisha smoker and completed my training as a programmer. 1 month after my apprenticeship, I started programming my own online shop – that was in 2013. I had no professional experience, but I really wanted to. A few years later, the demand was so great that I opened a local store in the next largest city. And so we have been supplying hookah smokers with supplies for 7 years.

Can you tell some chronology about smoking restrictions in Germany? What was the first “low attack” on the German hookah industry?

It started in 2000. But nobody was interested in the bans. However, TPD2 has been in force since 2016. This is a European draft law. Each country in the EU can adapt this draft slightly. But since May 20th, 2016 it has been forbidden for a hookah can to be appealing. This means: The can must not be able to tell which taste it is. No fruits may be shown as pictures on the can and the name may not be a fruit.

An example: Adalya chewing gum with mint-Cinnamon became „Adalya – Cwng Cool Wood“. The name doesn’t make any sense.

Some manufacturers then turn “Orange” into an “Oranjo”. It shows what it should taste like, but you can’t be sure. Others use the same for their tastes e.g. City names. Warning labels on hookah tobacco cans have also been required since 2016. The advertising of tobacco products is also prohibited. Actually for years but it is not punished. In 2016 it got worse.

According to the law, a shisha shop is not allowed to advertise tobacco. Neither by email – WhatsApp – Facebook – Instagram and so on. Only recommended in the sales room of the shop. Unfortunately, to this day, not many stick to it. Sometimes you get a penalty and sometimes nothing happens. This is very messy and not fair to those who obey the law. 4 years later on May 20th, 2020 there was an expansion of the TPD. Many flavors have been banned here.
1. Flavors that are suspected of being harmful.
2. Flavors that make smoking attractive to young people.
Particular attention was paid to one detail. The FRESHNESS in tobacco. This means that classic mint and menthol are banned in shisha tobacco. And this law has hurt a great many as 90% of smokers want their tobacco to be fresh.

Now, six months after the law, many manufacturers have introduced a “replacement mint”. One of them adds liquid to the tobacco so that the customer can refill the mint himself. Another uses Virginia tobacco for its lemon and tea for its mint flavor. In turn, other manufacturers have invented a completely new mint that is allowed. At least that’s what they say.
So as you can see Stan, the laws have brought a lot of chaos to the hookah scene. We often had to adjust. We lost beloved tastes. BUT – Even with the law there are still good tastes on the market – many innovations HAD to be invented as a result. Overall – we survived the law and the Germans still enjoy hookah 🙂

Can you tell more about Smokedex? What is about this service?

At the end of 2015 I learned from the law that soon no one of my customers will know which tobacco tastes of which taste. So that I don’t have to say each variety for a long time, I have programmed a small page for my customers. A simple list Type 1 tastes like banana. Type 2 after strawberry. After a short time I expanded this list. and at some point I put my list online. and have expanded it again. The basic idea was a simple list – which variety tastes like what.

Since I always kept this list up to date, SmokeDex was often the first source where you got this information. In addition, I have improved the userbility of the site. And I’ve added different features. Meanwhile SmokeDex is one of the most visited hookah websites in the world. More than 3500 people a day are looking for which tobacco they are smoking, can rate it, type into a counter what they smoke and display interesting statistics on their smoking behavior. The user can now also look at his favorite reviewer – or show shishas. And every user who is active on SmokeDex receives free bonuses from manufacturers who support SmokeDex.

If Russian market will face with same law problem, do you think that Smokedex can fix everything as for customer and as for clients?

A Russian version of SmokeDex is currently available. This version is partially not translated perfectly and many community features have to be adapted to the requirements of the Russian market.
The Russians’ interest in SmokeDex was currently relatively low, as Russia did not yet have these problems. Accordingly, we have placed our focus more on Germany, Spain and the rest of Europe.

We are watching the Russian market and laws very carefully. Should a specific date be set when these laws will change, we would adapt the Russian version of SmokeDex to the European version by this deadline.

So yes – we are well prepared and if the time comes, SmokeDex will stand by our Russian friends.

P.S. Not long ago Russian ministry of health initiated an idea for new law, which prohibits use of aroma in tobacco products