Announcing the 2019 Golden Leaf Awards
TR Staff Report
Tobacco Reporter handed out its annual Golden Leaf Awards during a ceremony on Nov. 13 in the ballroom of the RAI exhibition center in Amsterdam. Winners accepted trophies for accomplishments in five categories— Most outstanding service to the industry, BMJ Most committed to quality, Most impressive public service initiative, Most exciting newcomer to the industry and Most promising product introduction.,
Celanese won a Golden Leaf Award in the Most outstanding service to the industry category for loyally serving its customers for more than one century. Founded in 1918 as a manufacturer of cellulose acetate lacquers as a less flammable fabric coating for aircraft fuselages, the company subsequently branched out into cellulose acetate yarn for textiles and other products. After the 1950s, Celanese upgraded its manufacturing assets to support the growing prevalence of acetate tow as the preferred material for cigarette filters. Celanese created three joint venture operations with the China National Tobacco Corp., which today provide more than two-thirds of the country’s domestic acetate volume while providing a significant annual dividend stream for the company. With the advent of next-generation products, Celanese has been developing new materials and technologies to support heat-not-burn products and other innovations. While helping its customers stay ahead of the competition, Celanese is also firmly committed to biodegradability and sustainability, always looking for ways to minimize the environmental impact of its products and processes.
Smok won a Golden Leaf Award in the BMJ Most committed to quality category. Since its creation in 2010, the Smok brand has displayed a relentless commitment to innovation. Combining world-class industrial design with cutting-edge technology, Smok has consistently provided vapers with high-quality and reliable e-cigarette products. The company’s pioneering spirit was clearly on display during the TABEXPO 2019 trade fair in Amsterdam where Smok presented groundbreaking products such as the Fetch Mini, RPM 40, Priv M17 and Priv N19. The Fetch Mini elicited admiration for its glossy and exquisite texture featuring high-end glass on both sides of its body. Smok’s RPM 40 attracted praise for its small size, powerful battery and new IQ-R chip, which has shortened the firing time to a blazing fast 0.001 seconds.
The Tobacco Board of India won a Golden Leaf Award in the Most impressive public service initiative category for its efforts to popularize sustainable tobacco production practices in flue-cured Virginia cultivation in India. The commercialization of agriculture has affected agricultural biodiversity significantly. Monoculture and indiscriminate use of chemicals have resulted in land degradation and depletions of soil nutrients, forcing farmers to clear trees in search of new lands for cultivation. Recognizing these challenges, the Tobacco Board of India has embarked on a massive campaign to address such issues—and with success. Where implemented, its track-and-trace mechanisms have contributed to significant declines in chemical plant protection agent residues, for example. Tobacco Board of India initiatives such as “green manuring” and good agricultural practices have helped improve yields and quality while natural farming techniques have enabled the production of sought-after organic and residue-free tobaccos.
Voom Labs has won a Golden Leaf Award in the Most exciting newcomer to the industry category. Founded in Spain in December 2018, the company has established a solid reputation as a supplier of e-cigarettes. It is one of the few vapor brands that combines research, design, development, production and marketing under one roof. With 15 years of international market expertise, foresight and in-depth understanding of the e-cigarette industry, the Voom Labs team is well positioned to make a positive impact on the vapor business. The company nurtures a culture of social responsibility and places great value on sustainability with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of consumers worldwide by offering them nicotine consumption tools that are less harmful than combustible cigarettes.
While it does not produce any brands of their own, Ruvian Technology has won a Golden Leaf Award in the Most exciting product introduction category. Ruvian Technology is a provider of next-generation products with safe, high-quality and innovative nicotine delivery technology. Ruvian Technology believes that with the right combination of pharmaceutical and tobacco technology, the company can bring their modern new hemp and CBD product ideas and designs to a fast-growing consumer market. Ruvian Technology is dedicated to providing a unique perspective to the future of how hemp and CBD consumers will find true satisfaction in a technology driven and competitive market.
The Golden Leaf Awards are sponsored exclusively by BMJ of Indonesia. BMJ is the world’s No. 1 partner for specialty paper and packaging materials in the cigarette industry. BMJ produces cigarette paper, plug wrap paper, base tipping paper and printed tipping paper with standard weights of 18 grams to 40 grams per square meter. As a printing packaging company, BMJ represents high-quality packaging utilizing both rotogravure and offset. For more information, visit www.bmjpaperpack.com.