Built by a Father & Son Who Could Not Quit

The Problem We Could Not Solve

Joe started smoking at 19. Two decades later he was still smoking. He tried nicotine patches and got rashes that lasted weeks. He tried nicotine gum and hated the chalky chemical taste. He tried lozenges and spit them out. He tried vapes and just swapped one addiction for another. He tried cold turkey more times than either of us can count and made it a few weeks at best.

Mendy, his son, watched the whole thing happen. Birthday after birthday, holiday after holiday, the same quit attempts, the same relapses, the same frustration. Mendy was still a kid the first time he saw his dad swear off cigarettes for good. He was in high school the fourth time.

So in 2019, we sat down at the kitchen table in New Jersey and listed every single thing we had tried. Patches. Gum. Lozenges. Nasal sprays. Pouches. Vapes. Hypnosis. Willpower. Every product on that list had one thing in common: none of them solved the actual problem.

What We Figured Out That Every Quit Product Missed

The problem with quitting is not just nicotine. It is the habit. The hand-to-mouth motion, the oral fixation, the 40-minute ritual of lighting up, the thing in your hand during a phone call, the break from work, the after-dinner routine. Nicotine gum and vapes try to replace the chemical. They do nothing to replace the ritual. That is why almost everybody who quits with them ends up back on cigarettes within a year.

We needed something that kept Joe's hands busy, kept his mouth occupied for 35 to 45 minutes per session (the same duration as smoking a cigarette all the way down), and tasted good enough that he actually wanted to reach for it. It also had to be nicotine-free so we were not just trading one addiction for another.

The answer was obvious once we found it: a flavored toothpick, but done right. No chalky waxes, no synthetic flavors, no cheap imported wood. Bold natural flavor infused deep into a sturdy American birchwood pick, built to last the same length of time as a cigarette break.

From The Kitchen Table To Your Pocket

We started with one flavor (Watermelon Mint, still our bestseller), a single mill in the USA, and an obsession with getting the flavor infusion right. The first batches were mediocre. The flavor faded in 10 minutes. We went back to the lab three times before we hit the formula that delivered a full 35+ minutes of bold flavor on every pick. That took six months. That formula is the foundation of every PurePix product we make today.

Joe quit smoking for good in 2020 using the early PurePix prototypes. He has not touched a cigarette in over five years. He kept a pick in his mouth every time a craving hit for the first six months. He does not need to anymore, but he still carries a pack.

We launched PurePix publicly in 2021. We did not have marketing budget, investor money, or a fancy agency. We had Joe's story, a product that actually worked, and a commitment to never ship anything we would not personally put in our own mouths.

What Makes PurePix Different

• Made in the USA — every pick is milled in America from sustainably sourced birchwood. We do not outsource to cheap overseas suppliers.
• 35 to 45 minutes of flavor per pick — the longest in the category. We tested every competitor. Most last 5 to 10 minutes.
• Natural flavor oils, not synthetics — we pay more for real peach, real watermelon, real wintergreen. You can taste the difference.
• Vitamin B12 infused — smokers are chronically B12 deficient. We infuse each pick with a micro-dose to support energy during the quit window.
• Zero nicotine, sugar, calories, or tobacco — ever. We will never add any addictive substance to our picks.
• Family owned, family run — no VCs, no outside investors. Just Mendy and Joe and the team we hand-picked in New Jersey.

The Company Today

PurePix now ships to over 120,000 customers across the United States. We are the top flavored toothpick brand on Amazon and TikTok, the highest-rated flavored toothpick on every major review aggregator, and the most-recommended flavored toothpick brand by the recent-quitter community on Reddit. Our QuitPix line is specifically formulated for smokers and vapers trying to quit, and it is the product we are most proud of because it is the one that actually gets people their lives back.

We have expanded the lineup over time based on customer feedback. PowerPix is our creatine-infused line for athletes. EnergyPix delivers 40mg of caffeine in a flavored pick. MulleinPix adds mullein leaf extract for respiratory support. Crush is our high-intensity flavor line for customers who want the flavor turned up to 11. Every single product was built in direct response to a customer asking for it.

Our Promise

We will never put anything addictive in our picks. We will never use synthetic flavors to save money. We will never outsource our milling overseas. We will never stop improving the product based on what our customers tell us. And we will never forget that PurePix started at a kitchen table with a dad who just wanted to quit smoking and a son who wanted to help him.