Interview with May Pan, Business Unit Manager for Haypp UK

• Role: UK Business Unit Manager 
• Previous Experience: PepsiCo (Tropicana), Pizza Hut & KFC (Yum! Brands), Diageo (global markets across North America, Latin America, Caribbean, UK & Ireland) 
• Time at Haypp: Joined in 2025 
• Fun Fact: May has a nerdy side when it comes to data. She enjoys planning life 6 months in advance, but do not worry as she does have some scheduled spontaneity included in the plan! 

May describes her career as one that has “grown up” alongside her. 

“I started out in very traditional marketing at PepsiCo, working on big brands like Tropicana. It gave me a solid grounding in brand management and an early understanding of the many levers you can pull to influence consumer behaviour and drive sales. 

From there, I moved into the fast-paced world of food retail with Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell – a huge shift from managing something like orange juice, where the challenge is persuading someone to have just one more glass with breakfast, to pizza, where sales targets were set daily and competition was everywhere. It was Pizza Hut that really opened the door for me into e-commerce. Fun fact: pizza was actually the first food you could ever order online, which meant e-commerce was embedded into the category from the start. 

Later, I moved into the drinks industry with Diageo, working across global markets including Canada, the US, Latin America, the Caribbean, the UK and Ireland. And now I’ve joined Haypp, stepping into the nicotine category. What’s kept me here is my love of e-commerce – I enjoy the immediacy. You can change something as small as the colour or placement of a button on a site and instantly see the effect on conversion. Once I had a taste of that, there was no going back.” 

“What I love about the UK market is how savvy the consumer is. Price is always a factor, but UK shoppers look beyond that – they want real value and benefits. They’re willing to shop around for the best deal. 

At the same time, the nicotine pouch category is incredibly dynamic. Barriers to entry are low, which means lots of smaller companies can enter quickly. Everyone is growing at pace, but not all of these players will be around in five years – some are in it for the short term. For Haypp, this is the perfect moment to secure our place in the market.” 

“The question for me is almost “How don’t I?” I’m very data driven. In e-commerce, a 20% conversion rate is often seen as acceptable.  If you imagine a physical shop where 100 people walk in and only 20 buy something, no shop owner would be happy with that. They’d talk to every customer; try to understand what they were looking for and make sure they left with something. Online, we need to think the same way. Every customer who intends to buy should be able to leave with what they need – and if they don’t, I want to know why, so we can improve.” 

“We are a pure e-commerce company. That means digitalisation isn’t something we do – it’s part of who we are, it should be in our DNA. 

What excites me is that Haypp has already achieved impressive growth, even before applying many of the fundamentals of e-commerce. For example, we’re only just beginning to invest in paid advertising – one of the biggest growth drivers in the space. That tells me there’s huge upside potential. 

The more we embed an e-commerce mindset across the business, the more opportunities we’ll unlock for growth.” 

“I think the industry is still poised for rapid growth. Right now, Haypp UK is experiencing strong growth. Maintaining that pace won’t be easy, but the long-term outlook is strong. 

One key difference today is that nicotine pouch consumers in the UK are still relatively new. Education is hugely important – helping customers understand how to use pouches, what strengths are right for them, and what flavour options are available. That’s where we see a lot of opportunity.” 

“I’ve always chosen to work with companies that set higher standards than what legislation requires. Compliance is the baseline – table stakes, if you like. At Haypp, we go further. 

For example, there are certain product strengths and flavours we won’t carry, because they don’t align with our standards and our vision for the industry. And we actively support the government’s ambition for a smoke-free society. That sense of contributing to something bigger, beyond just sales, is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.” 

“Customers can expect rigour in everything we do – especially in the products we choose to sell. We’re selective, and we won’t compromise on that. 

From a digital perspective, you can expect best-in-class age verification. Even if that adds a little friction to the buying process, it’s the right thing to do – and we will always choose what’s right over what’s easy. 

And importantly, buying from Haypp UK means buying from a company that applies higher standards than what is just necessary to be compliant. Our customers can count on us for quality, responsibility and a long-term commitment to helping create a smoke-free future.”