InterTabac 2026: What We Heard About the Future of Regulated Nicotine Manufacturing

From Global Industry Conversations to Continuous Risk Intelligence

InterTabac | NUBIZ | InterSupply 2026 brought together manufacturers, industry leaders, innovators, and professionals from across the global tobacco and nicotine ecosystem.

For RIAR Consulting, the event was more than an industry gathering. It was an opportunity to listen, learn, and understand how manufacturers are navigating an increasingly complex environment where quality, compliance, regulatory expectations, and operational performance are becoming deeply interconnected.

Representing RIAR Consulting on the ground was our Strategic & Commercial Advisor, Joel Rubenstein, who engaged with manufacturers and industry professionals throughout the event.

These conversations provided valuable insight into the challenges facing regulated manufacturers today — and reinforced why continuous intelligence is becoming increasingly important.

Listening to Manufacturers

One of the most valuable aspects of InterTabac 2026 was the opportunity to hear directly from manufacturers.

Across conversations, several themes emerged:

• How can manufacturers maintain consistent product quality as operations scale?
• How can compliance become an ongoing operational capability rather than a periodic exercise?
• How can manufacturers identify emerging risks before they become quality or regulatory issues?
• How can operational data be transformed into actionable intelligence?
• How can organizations demonstrate that their quality systems are continuously effective?

These questions extend beyond documentation and traditional compliance processes.

They point toward a broader shift: regulated manufacturing is increasingly becoming a data and intelligence challenge.

Connecting With Indian Manufacturing

A particularly meaningful connection for RIAR was the opportunity for Joel to meet Shivam Bihani, a leading nicotine pouch manufacturer from India.

The conversation highlighted the growing capabilities of Indian manufacturers and the increasing presence of Indian companies within global regulated manufacturing markets.

India’s manufacturing ecosystem has developed significant expertise across pharmaceutical, healthcare, tobacco, nicotine, and other regulated sectors. As these companies expand internationally, their ability to demonstrate consistent quality, regulatory readiness, traceability, and operational control becomes increasingly important.

For RIAR, these conversations are a reminder that world-class manufacturing capabilities are being built not only in traditional global manufacturing hubs, but also across India.

Beyond Compliance: The Need for Continuous Intelligence

A recurring theme throughout the event was the changing nature of regulatory expectations.

For manufacturers operating across multiple markets, compliance is no longer simply about having the right documents available for an inspection.

Organizations increasingly need to understand:

What is happening?
Why is it happening?
What could happen next?
And what action should be considered?

This is where manufacturing intelligence can play an important role.

Instead of looking at quality, operations, compliance, equipment, and regulatory information as isolated datasets, organizations can begin connecting these signals to identify relationships and emerging risks.

For example, an operational deviation may appear relatively small in isolation. However, when combined with equipment trends, environmental monitoring data, quality signals, production history, or regulatory requirements, it may provide an early indication of a broader risk.

The ability to identify these relationships earlier can support more informed decision-making.

Where VERA Fits In

At RIAR Consulting, we are building VERA, our continuous risk intelligence platform for regulated manufacturing.

VERA is designed around a simple principle:

Manufacturing intelligence should help organizations understand risk continuously — not only when something goes wrong.

The platform brings together manufacturing, quality, compliance, operational, and regulatory intelligence to support a more connected view of risk.

For regulated manufacturers, this approach can help move the conversation from:

“Are we compliant?”

toward:

“What is changing, what could create risk, and where should we focus attention?”

This distinction is particularly relevant as manufacturers operate across increasingly complex regulatory environments.

The Future of Regulated Manufacturing

The conversations at InterTabac 2026 reinforced an important industry direction.

As tobacco and nicotine manufacturers expand into new markets and regulatory expectations continue to evolve, organizations will need increasingly sophisticated ways to demonstrate and maintain quality.

That will require more than compliance documentation.

It will require data visibility, connected intelligence, risk-based monitoring, predictive capabilities, and continuous decision support.

At RIAR Consulting, this is the space we are focused on building for.

Our conversations at InterTabac are only the beginning. We look forward to continuing discussions with manufacturers, technology leaders, regulatory professionals, and innovators who are working toward a more intelligent future for regulated manufacturing.

Looking Ahead

We are grateful to everyone who took the time to connect with Joel and share their experiences, challenges, and perspectives during InterTabac | NUBIZ | InterSupply 2026.

Every conversation helps us better understand the real-world challenges manufacturers face — and that understanding directly informs how we continue building VERA.

The future of regulated manufacturing will not be defined by compliance alone. It will be defined by how intelligently organizations understand, monitor, and manage risk.

RIAR Consulting
Building the future of regulatory intelligence.