Author: Staff Writer

Boka Opens Auction Floor in Karoi

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Boka Tobacco Floors (BTF) has opened a tobacco sales floor in Karoi, Mashonaland West Province. This sales floor will help reduce the number of farmers traveling to Harare to sell their tobacco, ultimately helping prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The Boka selling floor will serve farmers in Hurungwe District, including Tengwe, Kazangarare, communities around Karoi, Nyama resettlement, Nyamakate and Magunje as well as areas around Chinhoyi.
The auction space is currently a rented building, but BTF is constructing a 12,000-square-meter facility that would be ready for the 2021 selling season.
Measures compliant with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) have been put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
May 7, 2020
CEO Upbeat About PMI’s Prospects Despite Crisis

Andre Calantzopoulos | Photo: PMI
Despite the uncertainty created by the coronavirus crisis, CEO Andre Calantzopoulos expressed confidence in the midterm outlook for Philip Morris International (PMI) during the company’s 2020 annual meeting of shareholders.
“Our main focus at this time is on the health and well-being of our employees, their families and the communities in which we operate,” said Calantzopoulos.
“The strong, underlying performance of our business, especially the impressive growth of reduced-risk products, was evident in our full-year 2019 and first-quarter 2020 results. However, there is considerable uncertainty as to the development and duration of the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic and social consequences, including those which impact our operating environment and our consumers.
“We remain confident in our structural midterm growth prospects and, when the current headwinds have passed, expect to resume growth consistent with our 2019 to 2021 currency neutral compound annual growth targets. Crucially, our organization, liquidity and balance sheet are strong. We will continue to protect and support our employees, serve our consumers and reward our shareholders, which includes our strong commitment to our dividend.”
This year’s shareholders meeting was held in virtual format only.
An archived copy of the webcast will be available for approximately one year from the date of the meeting. Presentation slides and script will also be available.
May 7, 2020
FDA Wants to Delay Graphic Warnings

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked a federal judge in Texas to delay the effective date of a rule requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packages due to the outbreak of Covid-19, reports Reuters.
The FDA and tobacco companies that are suing the agency have asked the court to delay the effective date from June 18, 2021, to Oct. 16, 2021.
May 7, 2020
Malawi: Tobacco Earnings up by 27 Percent

Archive footage: The Lilongwe tobacco auction in 2017
Malawi earned MWK7 billion ($9.51 million) from tobacco sales since the selling season opened two weeks ago, reports The Nyasa Times.
According to Tobacco Commission spokesman Hellings Nasolo, this is MWK2 billion more than what the country earned in 2019.
“The market is very impressive,” he told The Nyasa Times. “This is an increase of 27 percent.”
Tobacco markets are now open in Lilongwe, Limbe, Chinkhoma. All sales floors have implemented strict measures to prevent spread of the coronavirus.
May 7, 2020
Revenues up for 22nd Century Group

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
22nd Century Group saw a net sales revenue increase of 12 percent, or $0.8 million, in the first quarter of 2020 over last year.
The company suffered an operating loss of $4.1 million compared to $5.4 million in 2019.
“We are very pleased with the solid start to 2020, with revenue increasing 12 percent over last year,” said Mike Zercher, president and chief operating officer of 22nd Century. “We believe the company is well positioned to execute on its strategies despite a challenging backdrop due to Covid-19. Our manufacturing facility has remained open and has been able to fulfill orders without any backlog. The improvements we made to our cost structure in 2019 have started to pay off in the first quarter with a 16 percent reduction in operating expenses compared to the same quarter last year.
“Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a deadline for public comments on the company’s modified-risk tobacco product (MRTP) application. This moves our MRTP application one step closer to an FDA authorization decision for the company’s proprietary reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes. Bringing these products to market is an important and exciting prospect for the company and public health,” Zercher added.
May 7, 2020
Juul Labs to Exit South Korea, Five EU Markets
Juul Labs said today it would end operations in South Korea, a year after it entered the market. The company states the cause was its inability to gain market share amid government health warnings.
In a statement, Juul Labs stated that since the beginning of the year it was working through a restructuring process aimed a re-establishing a viable business in South Korea by significantly reducing costs and making changes to its products.
“However, these innovations will not be available as anticipated,” the statement said. “As a result, we intend to cease our operations in South Korea.”
In October last year, South Korea’s health ministry advised people to stop vaping because of growing health concerns, especially after a case of pneumonia was reported in a 30-year-old e-cigarette user that month, according to Reuters news article.
The announcement prompted convenience store chains and duty free shops to suspend the sale of flavored liquid e-cigarettes, including those made by Juul Labs.
In December, South Korean health authorities said they had found vitamin E acetate, which may be linked to lung illnesses, in some liquid e-cigarette products made by Juul Labs, but the company denied using the material, according to Reuters.
Juul Labs launched a product portfolio that was specifically developed for the Korean market in May 2019, but “our performance has not met expectations in terms of meeting the needs of our Korean adult smokers to successfully transition from combustible cigarettes,” according to the statement. “We have learned through this process and are focused on innovating our product portfolio.”
Juul Labs is also reportedly ready to withdraw from a handful of EU markets as well, claiming the regulatory environment has become overly hostile to the device.
According to BuzzFeed News, Juul will soon remove its products from shelves in Austria, Belgium, Portugal, France, and Spain.
The news outlet reports the European Union’s strict requirement that e-cigs contain no more than 20 milligrams of nicotine makes it difficult for Juul to do business there.
Austria, Belgium, and Portugal are very small markets for Juul, but the leading e-cig manufacturer generates significant sales from France and Spain. It will exit France by the end of the year, but withdraw from the other countries in July, paring its presence in global markets to a narrow selection that includes Germany, Italy, Russia, and the U.K.
May 6, 2020
Foundation Debates Covid-19 Crisis’ Impact on Harm Reduction

Sally Satel during the 2019 GTNF in Washington DC | Photo David Parker
The Reason Foundation will host a webinar on May 19, 2020, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time to discuss how Covid-19 is affecting tobacco harm reduction and policymaking.
Guy Bentley, director of consumer freedom research for the Reason Foundation, will host the webinar. Other speakers will include Sally Satel, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Michelle Minton, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Tim Andrews, executive director for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
The webinar is open to the public.
May 6, 2020
Richard Flaherty Retires From Swedish Match

Rich Flaherty
Photo: Swedish Match
Swedish Match’s Rich Flaherty has decided to retire from his position as president of the U.S. division effective Oct. 2, 2020.
Flaherty joined Swedish Match in 2000 as the chief financial officer for the U.S. division and has led the business since 2008.
Tom Hayes will transition from his current position as group chief financial officer effective Aug. 1, 2020, to take on the role of president of the U.S. division. Hayes has served in his current role since 2018. He joined Swedish Match in 2006 and was previously the chief financial officer for the U.S. division.
Effective Aug. 1, 2020, Anders Larsson will be appointed chief financial officer of the Swedish Match Group. Larsson joined Swedish Match in 2008, and his current position is vice president of group finance.
“Rich has been a driving force behind the phenomenal success of our U.S. business, and his leadership will be missed,” said Lars Dahlgren, president and CEO. “On behalf of all the employees of Swedish Match, I wish Rich and his family the very best for the future.
“We have a comprehensive succession planning process in place at Swedish Match and have been well prepared for this transition. Tom spent most of his time at the company with the U.S. division and has been a great contributor these past few years in his current role. Anders has been working closely with Tom since 2018 and is well prepared for his move to the CFO role.”
May 5, 2020
FOREST Worries About Timing of Menthol Ban

Simon Clark, speaking at the 2019 TABEXPO conference in Amsterdam
Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, says the upcoming ban on menthol cigarettes in the EU and the U.K. will hit consumers at the worst possible time.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on people’s daily lives,” he said. “This is not the moment to prohibit a product many smokers enjoy and take comfort from. Given the current crisis, and the disruption and anxiety it is causing, the ban is going to hit consumers at the worst possible time.”
From May 20, 2020, it will be an offense for manufacturers to produce menthol cigarettes and for retailers to sell menthol cigarettes in the U.K. and throughout the European Union.
The ban also applies to hand-rolling tobacco with mentholated filters or papers if they are supplied together in the same product.
Clark worries that the menthol ban will catch many smokers unprepared. “We believe that a significant number of smokers are unaware of the forthcoming ban,” he said. “They will be shocked when they find that their favorite brands are no longer available via legitimate retailers. The government is understandably preoccupied with more serious issues, but imposing prohibition on so many consumers without a proper awareness campaign is inexcusable.”
May 5, 2020
Juul Moving to Washington DC

Photo: Juul
Juul Labs is moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., according to Market Watch.
The company has faced much regulatory backlash in the past years as they have been accused of marketing to youth and faced many lawsuits. Moving headquarters to Washington will put the company closer to regulators and distance it from “Silicon Valley’s growth-at-all-costs culture,” according to people familiar with the matter.
The move follows other restructuring efforts, such as cutting the workforce, closing some U.S. offices, and scaling back in Europe and Asia.
Juul Labs will remain a large presence in San Francisco, where the company will continue product and software development.
May 5, 2020