Author: Staff Writer

U.K. Relaxes Travel Restrictions

Photo: Jason
The U.K. government announced on July 28 that passengers arriving from “amber” countries who have been fully vaccinated in Europe (EU Member States, European Free Trade Association countries and the European microstate countries of Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City) and the U.S. will not have to quarantine when entering England as part of a range of new measures designed to continue to drive forward the reopening of international travel set out as part of the second Global Travel Taskforce checkpoint review.
From Aug. 2, 2021, passengers who are fully vaccinated in the EU with vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or in the USA with vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration or in the Swiss vaccination program will be able to travel to England without having to quarantine or take a day eight test on arrival.
Amber arrivals who have been fully vaccinated in the U.S. and European countries will still be required to complete a pre-departure test before arrival into England alongside a PCR test on or before day two after arrival. Separate rules will continue to apply for those arriving from France. Those vaccinated in the U.S. will also need to provide proof of U.S. residency. Passengers from all countries cannot travel to the U.K. unless they have completed a passenger locator form.
The relaxation of travel restrictions comes ahead of the GTNF, scheduled for Sept. 21–23, 2021, in London.
For more information, visit gov.uk.
July 29, 2021
Growth in New Category Sales for BAT

Photo: BAT
BAT reported revenue of £12.18 billion ($16.89 billion) for the six months that ended June 30, down 0.8 percent (up 8.1 percent on an adjusted basis) from the comparable 2020 period. Revenue from new categories increased by more than 50 percent to £883 million. Profit from operations totaled £4.91 billion, down 3.7 percent (up 5.4 percent on an adjusted basis) from the comparable six months a year earlier.
“This has been an exciting period of growth in new categories, with new category constant currency revenue up by 50 percent in the first half,” said BAT CEO Jack Bowles in a statement. “We added 2.6 million consumers—our highest ever increase—to our noncombustible product consumer base to reach 16.1 million. This demonstrates our accelerating transformation driven by our multi-category portfolio, with continued key market share gains in all three new categories.
“We are building strong, global brands of the future with Vuse, Velo and Glo. These are underpinned by industry-leading multi-category consumer insights and science with increasing digitalization. We have invested a further incremental £346 million in the first half, funded by continued value growth from combustibles and expect to reach our £1 billion Quantum savings target 12 months early. We have now increased our savings target to £1.5 billion by 2022.
“Our rapid growth in new categories is driving significant scale benefits and 2021 is shaping up to be a pivotal year in our journey toward ‘A Better Tomorrow.’”
July 28, 2021
WHO Reiterates Stance Against Vaping
While progress has been made in the fight against tobacco use, the marketing of e-cigarettes toward young people could have harmful health outcomes going forward, according to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Ghebreyesus gave the warning in a statement along with the release of the “WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2021,” the eighth study from the United Nations public health agency measuring progress on efforts to curb the sale of tobacco and nicotine products worldwide.

While the report found that more than four times as many people are covered under WHO-recommended tobacco control measures than in 2007, it expressed concern that children who use “electronic nicotine-delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes, are up to three times more likely to use tobacco products in the future.”
“Nicotine is highly addictive. Electronic nicotine-delivery systems are harmful and must be better regulated,” Tedros said.
He went on to argue that in places where e-cigarettes are not banned, “governments should adopt appropriate policies to protect their populations from the harms of electronic nicotine-delivery systems and to prevent their uptake by children, adolescents and other vulnerable groups.”

Over 100 million ex-smokers use reduced-risk products and the WHO should be taking advantage of massive investment in the sector by encouraging governments to provide an incentivized regulatory framework to enable greater expansion.
Derek Yach, president, Foundation for a Smoke-Free World
Tobacco harm reduction advocates and vaping industry representatives denounced the WHO report as “nonsensical and dangerous.”
“The WHO has a long-standing anti-vaping stance and this latest attack on a sector that is literally saving millions of lives worldwide flies in the face of scientific evidence, common sense and harm reduction,” said John Dunne, director general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), in a statement.
“This report demonstrates that, sadly, the WHO still doesn’t understand the fundamental difference between addiction to tobacco smoking, which kills millions of people every year, and addiction to nicotine, which doesn’t,” said John Britton, professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham.
“The WHO is also evidently still content with the hypocrisy of adopting a position which recommends the use of medicinal nicotine products to treat addiction to smoking but advocates prohibition of consumer nicotine products which do the same thing but better.”
Derek Yach, president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, said the WHO’s comments were “fundamentally flawed.” “The exceptional growth of next-generation devices offers the WHO a real opportunity to tackle combustible consumption once and for all,” he said.
“Over 100 million ex-smokers use reduced-risk products and the WHO should be taking advantage of massive investment in the sector by encouraging governments to provide an incentivized regulatory framework to enable greater expansion.”
David Jones, MP, who sits on the U.K. All-Party Parliamentary Group for Smoking and Health, described the WHO’s opposition to all smoking alternatives, not just vaping, as “bizarre.”
“Our advice remains that people who smoke are better to switch completely to vaping,” he said. “That opinion, however, is not shared by the WHO, which has long pursued an almost pathological campaign against e-cigarettes.”
July 28, 2021
Kaival Brands to trade on NASDAQ

Image: immimagery
Kaival Brands Innovations Group, the exclusive global distributor of products manufactured by Bidi Vapor, has been approved to list the company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The ticker symbol will remain unchanged, as “KAVL,” and the stock will begin trading on Nasdaq at the opening of the market on July 29, 2021.
“I am pleased to announce that the company has been approved to begin trading on Nasdaq,” said Niraj Patel, Kaival’s founder and CEO, in a statement. “This event represents another monumental milestone in our company’s short history.”
“We have worked diligently to achieve this goal and are humbled and grateful on the inclusion to the Nasdaq,” said Patel. “We are more enthusiastic than ever about being able to harness Kaival’s exciting potential.”
“Step by step, we continue our work to build a world-class global organization—our elevation to Nasdaq represents a very large strategic evolution for the company,” noted Eric Mosser, chief operating officer of Kaival Brands.
July 28, 2021
ITC’s Cigarette Business Recovers from Low Base

Photo: Seemanta Dutta | Dreamstime.com
ITC reported net revenue of INR12,217 crore in the first quarter of its fiscal year 2022, up 37 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year, reports Money Control. Net profit rose 28.6 percent to INR3,013.5 crore.
Revenue from ITC’s mainstay cigarette segment jumped 33 percent during the first quarter in comparison to INR3,854 crore a year ago.
The growth in topline was led by the company’s cigarette, FMCG and paper segments. The jump came on a low base as the first quarter of fiscal 2021 suffered from a significant decline in sales due to the onset of Covid-19 and a nationwide lockdown.
By contrast, the second wave of the pandemic had limited impact on the segments.
After severe disruptions in May, there has been week-on-week improvement in market conditions from mid-June, according to ITC, with most markets returning to normalcy and witnessing faster recovery compared to the first wave.
“The pace of volume recovery is better, compared to the previous wave of Covid-19, aided by improved mobility, distribution expansion and new launches,” said Mehul Desai, analyst at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. “Also, restrictions were not as severe as previous lockdowns.”
ITC introduced several new cigarette variants, including Gold Flake Excel, Wills Navy Cut Filter and Berkeley Hero, during the quarter.
The FMCG category, which includes several essential products, has helped the company tide over a difficult year. Its revenue from the segment stood at INR3,726 crore during the quarter as compared to INR3,375 crore in the year-ago period.
Despite continued growth in FMCG, ITC continues to draw the highest share of its revenue from cigarettes, a matter of concern for analysts.
July 27, 2021
TPB Acquires Unitabac Cigar Portfolio

Photo: imur Anikin
Turning Point Brands has acquired certain cigar assets of Unitabac. The acquisition comprises a portfolio of cigarillo products and related intellectual property, including cigarillo non-tip (NT) homogenized tobacco leaf (HTL), rolled leaf and natural leaf cigarillo products. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquired brands compete in three core segments: Trivo, Hype and Hi-Fi within the cigarillo NT HTL segment; Cloud9 within the natural leaf cigarillo segment; and Badlands within the rolled leaf segment. These cigars are all “grandfathered products” or subject of substantial equivalence reports in place with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome the Unitabac cigar brands to the Turning Point Brands family,” said Larry Wexler, CEO of Turning Point Brands, in a statement. “Industry analysts have highlighted that the multibillion-dollar cigarillo market growth is being fueled, in part, by the rapidly expanding movement toward cannabis legalization.
“Gaining access to Unitabac’s product portfolio provides us with necessary assets to build a more competitive platform to participate in this large and growing market. Our intention is to leverage both the Zig-Zag tobacco brand strength and the extensive reach of our retail distribution platform to further penetrate the cigar category by introducing new line extensions under the Zig-Zag tobacco brand and expanding the reach of the Unitabac cigar products.”
“Turning Point Brands’ deep knowledge of the evolving consumer experience, coupled with the company’s sales and marketing leadership, make the team an ideal partner for Unitabac,” said Rush Patel, founder of Unitabac. “With Turning Point Brands’ competitive advantages, grounded in superior marketing and distribution reach, I am confident our portfolio of products and brands developed over the past decade will continue to flourish under its forward-looking stewardship.”
Turning Point Brands reported net sales of $122.6 million in the second quarter of 2021, up 16.8 percent over that reported in the 2020 second quarter. Gross profit increased 25.1 percent to $60 million and net income increased 49.2 percent to $15.4 million
“Our second quarter performance continued to demonstrate Turning Point’s positive growth momentum, led by our core market segments. Zig-Zag had an exceptional quarter with over 70 percent growth, driven principally by our strategic initiatives and aided by a favorable comparison against a Covid-related disruption in MYO cigar wraps the previous year. Stoker’s also delivered a solid quarter fueled by double-digit growth in our MST business,” said Wexler in a press note.
July 27, 2021
Arcus Compliance appoints Sidebottom

Photo: tadamichi
Arcus Compliance appointed a new nonexecutive director, Robert Sidebottom.
Sidebottom has broad commercial, management and board-level experience across the vape and CBD sectors. He is the group managing director for the Eco Vape Group of companies and was formerly the managing director for the vape compliance company Adact Medical.
Sidebottom is a leading advocate of vaping, which he views as one of the essential tools in assisting smokers to quit traditional cigarettes. His commercial and compliance experience is underpinned by his qualifications and experience in project management, personnel management and finance.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Arcus Compliance leadership team, and I look forward to contributing to their strategic direction and continuing the exponential growth as the prime compliance agency in the sector,” said Sidebottom in a UKVIA press note. “The Arcus board [has] set the correct tone of professionalism and customer service, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to work with them.”
“We are thrilled to have Robert on board,” said Lee Bryan, managing director of Arcus Compliance. “He will be working closely with our other directors and in particular our other [nonexecutive director,] John Dunne. Prior to his appointment and for the last 12 months, Robert and I have discussed how we can improve vaping compliance with the aim of making products as safe as possible for the vaping community and switching smokers to the 95 percent safer alternative of vaping.”
Arcus Compliance has enjoyed rapid growth over the last 18 months and has significantly increased its market share within the SaaS space in the electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) and vape product sector. Arcus Compliance is currently regarded as the leading regulatory consultancy in Europe for ENDS products and boasts a client base of many of the world’s leading brands.
July 27, 2021
ISO Health and Safety Certification for KT&G

Photo: KT&G
KT&G has received the ISO 45001 certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
ISO 45001 is an international standard of safe and healthy management adopted by ISO and the International Labor Organization. The certification applies to KT&G plants in Sintanjin, Gwangju, Yeongju, Gimcheon and Cheonan
In its efforts to improve safe working environments, KT&G actively solicits employees’ input. Every quarter, the company’s management meets with workforce representatives to discuss safety and health matters. Workers are also offered frequent health checks.
According to a KT&G official, the ISO 45001 certificate proves that the company provides a workplace with a clear goal and a system that prioritizes safety. “The company will practice the systematic safety management in accordance with the global standards to guarantee and respect the right to work safely and thus strengthen the ESG-drive management,” KT&G wrote on its website.
KT&G continues to pursue further safety certifications around the world to maintain the top-level ESG standards. The company’s quality and environment management system has been recognized with the ISO 14001 (environmental management), ISO 9001 (quality management systems) and other qualifications. KT&G also has its eye on ISO 50001 (energy management) certification.
July 27, 2021
Taat Awarded Best New Product at Trade Show

Photo: Taat Global Alternatives
Taat Global Alternatives’ tobacco-free and nicotine-free cigarette was awarded Best New Product at The HQ Event, a business-to-business trade show for specialty lifestyle vendors in Las Vegas. Taat also placed second for Best in Show.
“I believe the two awards Taat won at The HQ Event this week are an excellent indicator of how our product is received by an audience of buyers keen to embrace concepts such as ours,” said Taat CEO Setti Coscarella in a statement.
It was the first time Taat Global Alternatives exhibited at a U.S. trade show since Taat launched in 2020. The company will also exhibit at the CHAMPS trade show in Las Vegas, which takes place July 27–30.
July 27, 2021
Republic Tobacco Rebrands

Image: Republic Brands
Republic Brands has changed its name to propel its brand portfolio and introduce new product offerings to address the rapidly growing rolling and make-your-own market. Formerly Republic Tobacco, Republic Brands is a global leader in all-natural rolling papers and premium accessories for the roll-your-own (RYO) and make-your-own (MYO) markets. Building on its legacy of making OCB, JOB and E-Z Wider, plus RYO/MYO mainstays TOP, Gambler and Premier, Republic Brands says it is poised to lead the ongoing transformation in rolling products, accessories and merchandise.
“Consumers appreciate being able to take a moment to enjoy the little things in life, which is what rolling your own is all about,” said newly appointed President and Chief Marketing Officer Paul Marobella. “The historic shift in market dynamics we are now experiencing in the United States and beyond opens valuable growth opportunities and the ability to connect with consumers in new ways.”
Most recently the chairman and CEO of Havas North America, Marobella brings decades of executive experience guiding growth for large enterprises and consulting with 21st century marketing leaders in data-driven growth for iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Adidas, Progressive, Jim Beam and others.
“The creation of Republic Brands represents a massive opportunity for our multinational company that has built its reputation as a trusted manufacturer and developer of sustainably sourced products,” said Don Levin, chairman and founder of Republic Brands. “We’re on the vanguard of the next era in the roll-your-own category building on our core portfolio and our high-growth brands such as OCB, JOB, TOP, Abadie, JOKER and E-Z Wider.”
With 200 years of rolling paper legacy built into the company’s culture, Republic Brands has built a vertically integrated supply chain “from plant to puff.” Republic Brands continues to deepen its investments in brand and product lines featuring sustainable materials and pursue innovative partnerships with today’s leading artists, creatives and influencers who share the Republic Brands ethos.”
To fulfill the brand’s vision for the next 50 years, Republic Brands will leverage its global production footprint that upholds ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 and GMP standards of sustainability, ethics and environmental responsibility to meet rising demand for cones, rolling papers, rollers, injectors, accessories and other products. Through the work of Republic Brands’ dedicated sales and service staff, the company is rapidly expanding into omnichannel retailing while maximizing existing channels to bring its brands into the hands, hearts and minds of consumers flocking into the alternative RYO/MYO space.
July 26, 2021