(Bloomberg) -- Altria Group Inc. knows all the worries about fruity-flavored nicotine devices as a lure for children — and it says it has a way to keep them just for adults as it looks for new alternatives to cigarettes.

The tobacco giant is finalizing submissions to the US Food and Drug Administration to sell NJOY vape products in blueberry and watermelon flavors, Chief Executive Officer Billy Gifford said Wednesday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Florida. Altria is already waiting to hear back from the FDA on a menthol version, he said. 

The company plans to employ a Bluetooth technology that will prevent underage use in a way it hasn’t yet detailed. “We’ve demonstrated the age-gating restrictions are effective at preventing underage access in virtually all cases,” Gifford said, according to a transcript of the company’s webcast.

Altria plans to get its regular tobacco-flavored NJOY vape products into 100,000 stores in 2024, up from around 75,000 last year, with new packaging, Gifford said. He estimated that the international opportunity to sell heated tobacco and vape products is worth $35 billion to $50 billion.

After encouraging results from a launch of its larger-sized oral nicotine pouches, On! Plus, in Sweden, Altria plans to expand distribution there, and launch the On! Plus products in the UK this year, according to Chief Financial Officer Salvatore Mancuso.

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