Author: Marissa Dean

Swedish Match Presents to FDA on General Snus

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Experts from Swedish Match USA, an affiliate of Philip Morris International, presented to the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee on June 26, 2024, according to a PMI press release. The committee, comprising independent scientific researchers, provides regulatory guidance to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products.
The half-day meeting was part of the FDA’s review of Swedish Match’s request to continue marketing General Snus products in the U.S. as modified-risk tobacco products (MRTPs) and to expand permitted use of the reduced-risk claim to reach, and transition, more legal-age smokers away from cigarettes.
Initially granted by the FDA in October 2019, Swedish Match can communicate to legal-age consumers that “Using General Snus instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.” Currently, that message is accessible only on the General Snus website.
Swedish Match presented to the committee real-world evidence showing the claim is delivering on its promise to reduce harm to individual tobacco users and benefit the health of the population and should be renewed.
In its renewal submission, Swedish Match is seeking to expand use to additional lawful marketing channels, such as point-of-sale display and direct mail to age-verified consumers.
“As FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King said when unveiling its new five-year strategic plan, this is a critical moment in the history of tobacco product regulation,” Gerry Roerty, general counsel for Swedish Match, said to committee members. The center’s mission is to make smoking-related disease and death a part of America’s past, and “today, together, we can meaningfully advance that goal,” Roerty told committee members.
During the meeting, representatives from Swedish Match and committee members discussed a range of scientific, technical and consumer-communications topics. The company provided an overview of its responsible marketing practices and presented evidence and research demonstrating low levels of use by unintended populations.
General Snus is a smokeless tobacco product, traditionally produced in Sweden, that is nonfermented and air cured. The modified-risk products submitted for renewal include eight General Snus varieties that have been made available in the U.S. for more than a decade: General Snus Original (pouch); General Snus Original (loose); General Snus White (pouch); General Snus Mint (pouch); General Snus Wintergreen (pouch); General Snus Mini Mint (pouch); General Snus Classic Blend (pouch); and General Snus Nordic Mint (pouch).
“We are understandably proud of our commitment to a cigarette-free America, which is achievable much faster if policy is guided by science,” said Stacey Kennedy, president of the Americas region and CEO of PMI’s U.S. business. “America’s 28 million adult smokers have been bombarded with misinformation about smoke-free products, which can cause confusion and prolong the most harmful form of nicotine consumption—smoking. We look forward to continuing dialogue with the FDA as it continues to consider renewal of this modified-risk authorization.”
The General Snus products were first authorized as “appropriate for the protection of the public health” through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process in 2015 following a PMTA submission earlier that same year.
Since then, Swedish Match USA has submitted eight annual reports over as many years, the last four of which were combined with MRTP annual reporting.
July 2, 2024
WHO Releases Guideline for Cessation

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The World Health Organization has released a comprehensive set of tobacco cessation interventions, including behavioral support delivered by healthcare providers, digital cessation interventions and pharmacological treatments, in its first guideline on tobacco cessation.
The guideline focuses on helping tobacco users who want to quit all forms of tobacco. The recommendations are relevant for all adults seeking to quit various tobacco products, including cigarettes, water pipes, smokeless tobacco products, cigars, roll-your-own tobacco and heated-tobacco products.
“This guideline marks a crucial milestone in our global battle against these dangerous products,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “It empowers countries with the essential tools to effectively support individuals in quitting tobacco and alleviate the global burden of tobacco-related diseases.”
“The immense struggle that people face when trying to quit smoking cannot be overstated,” said Ruediger Krech, director of health promotion at the WHO. “We need to deeply appreciate the strength it takes and the suffering endured by individuals and their loved ones to overcome this addiction. These guidelines are designed to help communities and governments provide the best possible support and assistance for those on this challenging journey.”
July 2, 2024
WHO Wants Cambodia to Raise Tobacco Taxes

Image: VDZ3 Media
Ada Moadsiri, World Health Organization representative in Cambodia, called for an increase in the special tax on cigarettes in the kingdom, reports the Khmer Times. According to Moadsiri, the current tax is not enough to discourage cigarette use or to raise enough revenues to offset the cost in terms of healthcare and economic output caused by tobacco-related illnesses.
Moadsiri said, at the Youth Forum on Tobacco Tax Measures event, that an effective increase in the special tax would require stakeholders to keep cigarette prices higher and make it more difficult for Cambodians to start smoking.
“We see that this delusion of the tobacco industry that claims that raising taxes on cigarettes will lead to tax evasion is fake, and I think the tobacco industry uses these fantasies for the sole purpose of preventing or delaying the special tax on cigarettes,” Moadsiri said.
July 1, 2024
PMI Accused of ‘Manipulating Science’

Image: Xistudio
Philip Morris International has been accused of “manipulating science for profit” through funding research and advocacy work with scientists, according to The Guardian.
Leaked documents from PMI and its Japanese affiliate revealed plans to target politicians, doctors and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of the company’s marketing strategy to attract nonsmokers to its IQOS heated-tobacco product. Japan is a launch market for IQOS.
A Tobacco Control Research Group paper from the University of Bath stated that Philip Morris Japan (PMJ) funded a Kyoto University study into smoking cessation via a third-party organization. The researchers found no public record of PMJ’s involvement, however. According to a PMI spokesperson, the company’s involvement was attributed when the results were presented at a scientific conference in Greece in 2021.
PMJ reportedly paid £20,000 ($25,287.48) a month to FTI-Innovations, which is a life sciences consultancy run by a professor from Tokyo University. The payments were for tasks like promoting PMI’s science and products at academic events, which, according to an internal email, a PMJ employee claimed they had been told “to keep it a secret.”
The paper, which was published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, is based on 24 leaked company documents from between 2012 and 2020.
“These activities resemble known strategies to influence the conduct, publication and reach of science and conceal scientific activities,” the researchers said.
“The manipulation of science for profit harms us all, especially policymakers and consumers trying to make potentially life-changing decisions,” said Sophie Braznell, one of the paper’s authors. “It slows down and undermines public health policies while encouraging the widespread use of harmful products.”
The leaked documents undermined PMI’s claims to conduct “transparent science,” according to Braznell, who called for reforms to funding and governance of tobacco research “to protect science from vested corporate interests.”
In a different report from Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP), also based on leaked documents, PMJ appeared to lobby for IQOS to be permitted in places where smoking was banned.
Entities like medical and hospitality groups and Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency were targeted for endorsements, “which, if secured, could give the appearance of organic, widespread acceptance of IQOS,” said STOP.
Moreover, the report stated that aiming for a presence at the Tokyo Olympics “echoes a known industry tactic of advertising addictive, harmful tobacco products at sports events—associating these products with health, misleading consumers and reaching children and young people.”
“PMI’s intentions with IQOS seem to extend far beyond what they’ve stated,” said Jorge Alday, director of STOP. “This revelation adds weight to the mounting evidence questioning the credibility of PMI’s claims about their intentions and their products.
“Disturbingly, it hints at a broader pattern of deceptive tactics, potentially laying the groundwork for a new chapter in the tobacco epidemic,” he said.
“This is yet another specious story from an organization more interested in criticizing our company than helping reduce the harm from cigarettes,” said a PMI spokesperson. “Like any highly regulated multinational company, PMI regularly seeks to share our positions on issues that affect our consumers, our company and our communities. Not only is this type of engagement entirely legal and appropriate, [but] it is essential to the type of inclusive policymaking that will lead to better outcomes for the people affected by those policies.”
July 1, 2024
Reynolds Launches Non-Nicotine Vape

Image: Wall Street Journal
R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (RJRVC), an operating company of Reynolds American Inc. (Reynolds American), BAT Group’s U.S. subsidiary, is expanding its innovative vapor portfolio with SENSA, a zero-nicotine vapor product.
As the market leader in vapor with its Vuse products, RJRVC is joining the growing marketplace for zero-nicotine vapor products and aims to establish the highest standards in the industry, according to an emailed press release.
SENSA products include a locking feature to prevent unintended usage, and adult consumers of the device will have access to Call2Recycle’s battery recycling program, which will facilitate the responsible disposal of SENSA batteries.
“Adult tobacco and vapor consumers across the retail marketplace are looking for more options,” said Valerie Mras, senior vice president for RJRVC. “Adding a zero-nicotine product to our growing vapor portfolio is driven by deep adult vapor consumer insights and enables us to responsibly compete within a category that is already well established in many countries.”
The SENSA portfolio of flavors is intended for adult tobacco and vapor consumers and does not include flavors intended to appeal to those who are underage. The product will be responsibly marketed to adult tobacco and vapor consumers consistent with the Reynolds American organization’s marketing practices for tobacco and nicotine products, according to the release. All web properties will be age-gated.
July 1, 2024
Punching Above Its Weight

LTL’s tobacco reclaimers are characterized by their high levels of efficiencies and relatively low running costs. | Photo: LTL
A small family business, LTL holds its own as a supplier of equipment to the global tobacco industry.
By George Gay
While I was corresponding in March with the founder of LTL, Paul Lawton-Bryant, he was involved hands-on with others in his company fulfilling an order for one of its CR120P super-slim format cigarette-tobacco reclaim systems (CTRS). I mention this because LTL is very much a family company, and when asked what its strengths were, Lawton-Bryant said at the end of his reply that one of them was down to his personal drive for perfection in everything he did.
“I am very hands on in the business and spend many hours in our workshop machining parts and building the machines to ensure that the high quality I demand is maintained,” he added. And the point is that I could see this quest for perfection from another angle. Although heavily involved in the new CTRS project, he took the time to answer with precision and clarity every one of a long list of questions that I had sent to him. And he answered frankly: He even made the point that his drive for perfection could also be seen as a weakness.
LTL is owned privately by Lawton-Bryant and his wife, Julie, who is the financial director. They started trading in 1997, though the company, as currently constituted, was founded in 2001. It operates out of premises in the village of Chilbolton,* Hampshire, U.K., where it designs and manufactures primary processing equipment for the global tobacco industry, though, in recent years, it has supplied mainly CTRSes, tobacco feed systems and central dust collection systems. It is involved, too, in nontobacco-related projects, but its core business is focused on tobacco-related products and services.
Quality of Output
The CR120P, which is LTL’s most in-demand reclaim system, and the higher-capacity CR250P are characterized by their high levels of efficiencies and relatively low running costs. “Our systems regularly achieve in excess of 96 percent reuseable reclaimed tobacco yield,” Lawton-Bryant told me in an email exchange. “Energy consumption is quite low, with a total electrical load of 4.2 kW and compressed air usage of just 3.0 cfm for the CR120P and a little higher on the CR250P. In addition to this, the machines use very few consumable spare parts and come with an industry-leading two-year warranty based upon single-shift operation.”
LTL’s reclaim systems are 99 percent standard, though there are different versions for regular and slim cigarettes, and the company will supply units to feed rejected cigarettes into the CTRSes if required. Otherwise, the main customizations take in the usual elements such as supply voltages/frequency and paint color. The CR250P was launched about 10 years ago in response to several inquiries for larger capacity machines and a general trend among competitor companies. However, generally, LTL’s customers still prefer the flexibility of having a smaller capacity machine—running two or more for different blends rather than having one larger-capacity machine.
The focus in developing the CR range of reclaim systems has been on the quality of the output product because, Lawton-Bryant said, once a cigarette had reached the stage where its tobacco needed to be reclaimed, that tobacco was probably at its most fragile and at its most valuable, having been conditioned, blended, cut, expanded, dried and flavored. “The particle size and moisture content of the tobacco within a cigarette means that the tobacco could easily be degraded through unsophisticated mechanical handling and separation processes, and it is in those areas that we have focused our design to minimize damage and maximize yield,” he added.
Return on Investment
The potential monetary savings inherent in efficiently reclaiming processed tobacco that would otherwise become a costly burden would seem to make an indisputable case for CTRSes, but I wondered whether there were other factors in play. In answer to a question about whether tobacco industry ESG (environmental, social and governance) policies had been driving demand for CTRSes, Lawton-Bryant said that such policies would be a consideration in purchasing decisions but that he did not see them as driving demand.
The key drivers in any business had always been and would continue to be the need to make a return on investment. A cigarette was at its most valuable having gone through the full primary process, he said, a fact often given less consideration than it deserved, so any damage and loss occurred at that point in the process would be the costliest that it could be. This fact alone often helped justify the relatively small investment required to purchase a good-quality CTRS, though actual payback periods would vary drastically depending upon individual circumstances.
For example, in the past, LTL had sold a machine to a customer that previously disposed of all its reject cigarettes, which was said to have made the payback very short indeed. “A more usual scenario would be the savings our particular machine can make when compared to a competitor’s machine,” Lawton-Bryant said. “We have seen reuseable tobacco yields as low as 70 percent in other machines available in the market, so with our machine regularly achieving 96 percent yields, a 26 percent increase could mean payback within 12 months.”
Global Reach
LTL supplies machines to a wide range of customers around the world, though, recently, the Middle East and Africa in particular have provided good opportunities. In fact, the project mentioned at the start of this story involved the supply of a CR120P to a customer in the Middle East that is planning to buy a second machine following the installation of the first one. “We are very fortunate in that we have several repeat customers,” said Lawton-Bryant, “and I feel this is one of the best references we could possibly provide.”
At the same time, LTL supplies machines to companies both large and small, though most of its customers tend to be those operating smaller manufacturing facilities with between one and 10 makers. In fact, Lawton-Bryant said that LTL was probably an unusually small-scale company among those supplying equipment to the global tobacco industry and that it was understandable that this could be seen by some customers as a risk. “However, I do feel that our long history of supplying high-quality and innovative equipment to the global tobacco industry proves our commitment to the industry and should provide some assurances,” he added.
This takes us back once again to the start of the story because, clearly, small, family-run businesses offer several advantages. “I think it is our small size which allows us to react quickly and effectively to new challenges and changing customer demands,” said Lawton-Bryant. “A good example of this was our reaction to the recent global pandemic where travel restrictions were imposed. This had a massive impact upon our ability to install and commission equipment, so our team focused upon a remote commissioning solution, which included fitting a router and camera to machines, thereby allowing us to remotely access the PLC, guide the customers on installation, remotely commission the machines and view the product results through the camera.
“Our core team has over 160 years of experience in the industry covering both mechanical and electrical/software engineering and process knowledge, which meant that the new system was conceived, designed and implemented within a matter of weeks, and not one of our customers suffered through our inability to travel to site throughout the restrictions. This remote access remains a feature of the CR range of reclaim systems today and can assist with ongoing support and training if required.”
Enduring Resilience
In fact, it is clear that Lawton-Bryant sees the advantages of running a small-scale operation as outweighing the potential pitfalls of trying to grow the business. “Over almost 30 years of running my own business, I have resisted the pressures to grow into a large company,” he said. “I wish to serve the niche industry that we are in to the very best of our ability, and that requires a very tight level of control throughout the business processes, something which can easily be lost in a larger company.”
When I asked how confident he was about the future of the tobacco industry and, especially, the cigarette industry, that part of the industry LTL mainly served, he was frank in his reply. “For more than 20 years now, I have had regular periods of concern over the sustainability of our business in the tobacco sector, though I am happy to say that so far those fears have been relatively unfounded,” he said. “Of course, the industry has faced several challenges and continues to do so, but generally, it is very resilient.”
And finally, I asked how confident Lawton-Bryant was about LTL’s future. “I am confident that we can respond to the many challenges that running a business encounters,” he said. “Whether that remains mostly in the tobacco industry remains to be seen, but I sincerely hope that it does,” he said.
*Although “only” a village, Chilbolton, too, punches above its weight with an observatory that boasts facilities and expertise in atmospheric science, satellite tracking, radio astronomy and communications that support U.K. academia and industry.
George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

July 1, 2024
Celebrating Diversity

Diversity and equal opportunities are an integral part of JTI’s business success.
By Stefanie Rossel
According to studies, diversity in the workplace can contribute to smarter decision-making, greater productivity and reduced rates of employee turnover, along with improved corporate reputations. In recent years, companies around the world have increasingly implemented diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs—a collection of practices and policies intended to support people from varying backgrounds and give them the resources they need to thrive in the workplace.
More precisely, diversity is embracing the differences everyone brings to the table, whether it’s someone’s race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or other aspects of social identity. With different backgrounds come different perspectives, which ultimately lead to better ideas and solutions and better outcomes—or products, for that matter.
To ensure equal circumstances for all individuals across the organization, employers must recognize that not everyone is starting at the same level. Rather than giving everybody the same tools, companies that strive for equity provide employees with what they individually need to have an equal opportunity for success.
Inclusion means that while the workplace requires professionalism and etiquette, employees should not be barred from being themselves; they should not worry about “code-switching” or shielding part of their identity when going to work. Inclusion is what maintains diversity.
Research conducted by McKinsey shows that in 2020, companies worldwide spent an estimated $7.5 billion on DEI-related efforts, a number that was projected to double by 2026. According to a LinkedIn analysis, the number of chief diversity and inclusion officer positions grew by 168.9 percent in the U.S. between 2019 and 2022. However, DEI programs have been under siege from some quarters recently, with U.S. state lawmakers launching efforts to restrict DEI efforts in public schools and universities and companies rolling back their efforts. DEI initiatives, opponents argue, are an overly political, damaging waste of time or a distraction from organizations’ primary activities.
In fact, there has been little scientific research to evaluate the effects of DEI, which emerged at the time of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. A 2023 review by Boston University researchers found that successful programs were composed of trainings that were grounded in theory. Effective trainings were longitudinal instead of one-time and not only focused on defining concepts but also provided additional support, trainings and skills, such as how to navigate challenging conversations. In successful programs, DEI was not limited to diversity but also emphasized inclusion, meaning companies engaged individuals or groups who had been historically excluded from decision-making activities. This, in turn, drove equity.
Culture of Inclusivity
Fernando Bonaduce
Geneva-headquartered Japan Tobacco International has had a comprehensive DEI program in place since 2018. “We foster an environment that embraces diversity, ensures equal opportunities and provides a safe space for everyone to contribute,” says Fernando Bonaduce, JTI’s DEI director. “This commitment is integral to our business success. I am proud that all JTI branches worldwide have adopted DEI principles. Our employees play a crucial role in this endeavor. Starting from the highest levels of the organization and extending through our global team, we are nurturing a culture of inclusivity. This gives everyone the freedom to choose, think, express themselves and be authentic.”
In 2020, JTI launched its first employee resource group (ERG), PRIDE, for the LGBTIQ+ community. “Today, we have four ERGs with hundreds of change agents involved in key DEI areas such as gender equality, race and ethnic inclusion, gender identity and sexual orientations or diverse thinking,” says Bonaduce. Changes in corporate culture, he notes, require both time and effort and are “anything but an easy road.”
In 2021, the company committed to increasing women in leadership roles to 30 percent by the end of 2023. “We achieved this ambition in August of that year, well ahead of schedule,” says Bonaduce. “Our commitment to gender equality reflects our efforts to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace, creating an environment where female colleagues are set up for success.”
One year later, the company’s DEI division was merged with the human resources department, an initiative that has been guided by a DEI strategy focusing on four strategic pillars: strategic commitment, value diversity, building inclusion and nurturing employees’ well-being. “This strategic focus has influenced talent attraction, retention and promotion processes by ensuring all our decisions are geared toward bringing out the human best in our organization. For instance, embedding the DEI principles means that talent management needs to develop a diverse representation in leadership roles,” says Bonaduce.
The company’s DEI-rooted approach, he says, implies that JTI constantly seeks to identify and remove barriers that prevent underrepresented groups from fully participating in the whole recruitment process. Initiatives to achieve this objective include encouraging and monitoring language to not exclude potential applicants based on their background and designing interviews and panels in a way to provide every candidate with the best chance for success. “This approach helps us remove biases from the selection process as best we can,” says Bonaduce.
Work-Life Balance
JTI uses channels and platforms that directly address underrepresented groups, like myGwork, to attract a more diverse applicant pool. The remarkable increase in the number of women in leadership roles, Bonaduce says, is a direct result of the company’s efforts, which aim to enhance the visibility of its top female talents and provide mentorship for them. “Every year, each member of JTI’s global executive committee, except for the CEO, sponsors a senior female talent from around the globe for a period of 12 months. This program aids our talented individuals in their career development, fostering an inclusive and diverse culture from the very top of our organization.”
To help employees recognize and overcome unconscious biases and ensure managers become a catalyst for inclusion and nurture individuals as they are, the company offers various training programs.
Mental health is also an important element in JTI’s DEI strategy. “Our employees dedicate a significant portion of their day to work-related activities,” says Bonaduce. “We know how important physical fitness is for our health and well-being. Unfortunately, people can still hesitate to openly seek psychological guidance or support with mental health due to uncertainty about others’ reactions or feelings of shame. At JTI, we are committed to helping people remove the stigma that still exists in some parts of society.”
The company therefore offers its employees a mental fitness test so that they can check how balanced and healthy they are, live training sessions and a global employee assistance program that provides round-the-clock access to over 40,000 counselors, mental health trainers and specialists 365 days a year. “This service is free, confidential and professional, with assistance available in 200 different languages.” Additional mental health first-aid program modules promote peer-to-peer support on various mental health and personal well-being topics.
Taking Pride in Being Different
Rene Staebe
PRIDE is a particular success story within the company’s DEI approach. “Having an LGBTIQ+ ERG like PRIDE at JTI is crucial for fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace,” says Rene Staebe, co-founder of PRIDE. “Such groups provide a safe space where individuals can express their true selves, share their experiences and find solidarity among peers. This sense of belonging not only boosts individual well-being and job satisfaction but also enhances overall company performance.” According to research, a third of LGBT+ people in the European Union hide their identity from co-workers, and even more have faced discrimination at work because of who they are.
“Our initiatives focus on educating colleagues, promoting understanding and encouraging open dialogue,” says Staebe. He says he has witnessed remarkable and positive changes across the company since PRIDE’s creation, one of the most significant shifts being the noticeable increase in active allies. “Employees from all levels and departments have stepped up to show their support, especially at senior management level, who have been instrumental in setting a powerful example for others to follow whilst their endorsement has helped embed the values of PRIDE into the fabric of our corporate culture, making inclusivity a core component of our identity,” says Staebe. “We have seen a substantial increase in the number of internal webinars and educational sessions focused on LGBTIQ+ issues providing valuable platforms for sharing knowledge, raising awareness and fostering open dialogue. This has been aided by the implementation of more inclusive policies and practices to include more comprehensive nondiscrimination clauses and more inclusive healthcare and parental leave benefits.”
Meanwhile, PRIDE has a global ERG footprint, with chapters in Canada, the U.S., Switzerland, the Philippines and 13 other countries. Staebe highlights that continuous support is being provided to employees in regions that are not friendly toward the queer community. PRIDE is exploring ways to empower local markets, such as the Middle East, by setting up resource groups while complying with local regulations.

“We are always striving to create a confidential environment where LGBTIQ+ employees can feel safe and valued, which is why it’s so important to have a presence within countries where there are challenges for community members. For this to be possible, we are supported by JTI’s “embassy” model, which enables us to have a presence despite the challenges that people may face,” says Staebe.
In 2023, the company was honored with the Swiss LGBT Label award for the second time. Its progress was also awarded with EY’s Global Equality Standard certification in 2021, in which JTI received several of the highest assessment scores for equal opportunities and equal pay in the workplace. The company has also been recognized as a Global Top Employer.
For a DEI program to be successful, it is important to maintain constant dialogue with underrepresented groups, Bonaduce says. “Feedback from our employees confirms that management is becoming increasingly inclusive. Almost 90 percent of our global employees experience a full sense of belonging to the organization. We also observe our leadership bench becoming even more diverse, with talent from different genders and cultural backgrounds.”
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

July 1, 2024
Gaining Momentum

Photos courtesy of Cavandish Llloyd
Cavendish Lloyd is eager to expand shisha tobacco production in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
By George Gay
When I corresponded in 2022 with the president of Cavendish Lloyd, Koen Monkau, he was bullish about the market for shisha-style, low-nicotine flue-cured tobacco (LNFCT), the production of which his company was trialing in Zimbabwe. And, earlier this year, he was still bullish. The major manufacturers of shisha might have experienced a drop in sales recently, mainly due to vaping, he said, but a lot of new players had entered the market in the past few years, and shisha consumption was still growing worldwide. Five years ago, for instance, there were no shisha bars in Harare, but now there are plenty of establishments that offer shisha. “This is a worldwide trend,” he added.
While this sounds like good news for Cavendish Lloyd, it seems to also be good news for Zimbabwe. As part of an email exchange in May, Monkau told me it was important for Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry that it diversified the portfolio of tobacco it offered buyers and, ultimately, manufacturers. “An industry is not sustainable in the long run if half its crop is sold to one customer, as is the case now,” he said. “LNFCT—and also other tobacco varieties—can assist in diversifying the industry so that it is able to stand the test of time.”
Although Cavendish Lloyd is the only company currently producing LNFCT in Zimbabwe, it is certainly the case that the country’s tobacco industry, at least in the guise of the Kutsaga Tobacco Research Board (TRB), seems aware of the desirability of diversification. Monkau said his company had enjoyed a good cooperative relationship with the TRB, which had this season, 2023–2024, grown 7 ha for it on a commercial basis. At the same time, the TRB was continuing to experiment with alternative growing methods and different shisha tobacco seeds.
This season, Cavendish Lloyd is hoping that its Zimbabwe crop will reach 600,000 kg, and Monkau is looking for investors to help him expand LNFCT production into other countries, including Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. His company, he said, was now looking to hold talks with the tobacco research institutes of these countries, following initial approaches that had been made by the chief executive officer of the TRB, Frank Magama. In fact, Tanzania had already expressed serious interest in growing this crop, and representatives of the country’s Tobacco Research Institute had attended this year’s sales, which were ongoing at the time this story was written.

Many Zimbabwean farmers are growing it for the first time this season.
Challenges
It would be wrong, however, to give the impression that everything has been going without a hitch. Monkau readily admits that his company was hit by financial and other constraints during the 2022–2023 season and that its crop of 150,000 kg was well below what had been initially targeted. And while the 600,000 kg crop expected this season would represent a major increase, it would have been even bigger, perhaps 1 million kg, but for the El Nino weather effect.
But then El Nino affected all tobacco (and other) crops in Zimbabwe (and elsewhere, and the resulting drought was eventually declared a national disaster. The unhelpful weather conditions did not come out of the blue, however, and, in mitigation, Cavendish Lloyd was able to focus on growing an irrigated crop from the start. At the same time, Monkau said, the dryland crop had had to be scaled back to ensure that growers did not plant crops that they would not have been able to sell.
Unfortunately, the current situation implies that things could reverse next season and create problems for those who use irrigation for growing tobacco because there has not been enough rain to fill dams and reservoirs.
Despite these setbacks, it is not proving difficult to attract farmers to LNFCT. Cavendish Lloyd started out on this project three seasons ago with just one grower, who is still on board, but he has been joined by about 40 others, ranging from commercial to small-scale farmers. Monkau said that LNFCT was relatively easy to grow and provided good returns when cultivated well, so farmers had been lining up to produce this variety.
LNFCT is closer grown than standard flue-cured tobacco; it requires the application of less fertilizer; it is not topped; it provides for faster harvesting because more leaves are reaped with each pass; and it requires less energy during curing. All this adds up to efficiency savings and better returns, not to mention environmental gains.
Nevertheless, the switch from growing a regular flue-cured crop to LNFCT requires some adjustments on the part of the grower, who is presented with logistical challenges if he grows LNFCT alongside regular flue-cured. For instance, because LNFCT cures faster than regular flue-cured, growers need good barn management skills when scheduling curing. In fact, Monkau believes it is preferable for growers to concentrate on either LNFCT or regular flue-cured.
To help growers further, Cavendish Lloyd is currently looking at employing more sophisticated ways of crop management than are now used. “By using satellite imaging to monitor crops, we can deploy our agronomy team more efficiently to areas that need immediate and special attention rather than have them do their weekly rounds of farmers,” he said. “It is a relatively cheap way of potentially increasing crop yields dramatically, and it is quite amazing what kind of information can be gathered on a day-to-day basis.”
Looking to the future, I asked if African-grown LNFCT might be used for purposes beyond shisha manufacture, to which Monkau replied that his company had already had inquiries from companies operating in the cigarette and RYO markets that were interested in obtaining a bright, low-nicotine-style tobacco that fitted their established blends. In addition, a recent sale of 10,000 kg of LNFCT to a flavor extraction plant in Zimbabwe had shown that there were other outlets for this type as well.
In finding and establishing these other outlets, it probably helps that as well as being involved in LNFCT production, Cavendish Lloyd has contacts made through some of its other operations, which include the marketing and distribution of cigarettes, and the trade in tobacco, cut rag and tobacco production materials, such as packaging. And since 2023, cigarette manufacturing can be added to that list since the company last year established a manufacturing plant in Lusaka, Zambia.

This season, Cavendish Lloyd is hoping that its Zimbabwe shisha tobacco crop will reach 600,000 kg.
Limits to Production
Looking away from the demand side and toward the supply side of the LNFCT business, I also asked what limited the amount of this type that could be grown. “Limits are mainly defined by how much capital we can raise to fund the growers,” Monkau said. “I believe there is room to expand production to 5 million kg in Africa on a sustainable basis,” he added before providing an interesting comparison, “which would be comparable with the crop size of Germany.”
This comparison chimes with a point Monkau had made to me in response to an earlier question about whether LNFCT could now be seen as an established commercial crop in Zimbabwe. No, it was not, he replied. Many farmers this season were growing it for the first time, so it would be an experiment to see if it worked for them. Only one farmer was growing it for the third time, and for several, it was their second season. Even with the volume of all Zimbabwe’s flue-cured crops expected to total less than 250 million kg this year because of El Nino, LNFCT would account for only 0.2 percent of the total.
That, for sure, seems to be only a modest amount of LNFCT, but I was interested to know if it had been a smooth ride getting to that point. There was no such thing as a smooth ride in Zimbabwe, Monkau told me. The financial/economic situation in the country always kept you on your toes. For instance, on Cavendish Lloyd’s first sales day of 2024, April 5, the government had abolished the Zimbabwe dollar and introduced a new currency, the ZiG, which put the whole financial system on hold for a few days, and the company was still dealing with the fallout from that. Such changes did not make doing business easier, but, apart from that, things had gone quite well. There was a lot of interest and support from the government to make the LNFCT business successful, and the company’s efforts were the subject of regular local press reports.
Of course, the real test of how things are going and will go in the future concerns whether growers are content with the prices they are receiving, and, in the short term, the answer is probably that they are. Nevertheless, Monkau made the point that pricing was something of a thorny issue in respect of LNFCT. His company was required to follow the pricing arrangements specified by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), arrangements that could lead to anomalies since LNFCT fell outside the regular classifications of the TIMB. It wasn’t too much of an issue for the tobacco that met shisha standards, but, in the case of lower grades that were unsuitable for shisha, the company was obliged to pay regular market prices for tobacco of substandard quality.
But at least the next season, 2024–2025, should see farmers keen to grow LNFCT—in fact, any tobacco type or variety. “Overall, prices for all tobacco have been good this year, so I don’t see many farmers complaining,” said Monkau. “I expect current prices will push more farmers back into tobacco growing until we see more balance between supply and demand.”
George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

July 1, 2024
The Best of Both

From left to right: Lucas Dockorn, Franz Demeulemeester and Jay Barker at the YTL’s office in Santa Cruz do Sul | Photos: Taco Tuinstra
Newly created Your Tobacco Link harnesses the strengths of JEB International and Tobacco Trading and Services.
By Taco Tuinstra
The concept for the merger was sketched on a napkin during a dinner in Antwerp. “It was very old-school tobacco,” recalls Jay Barker, founder of U.S.-headquartered JEB International Tobacco Co. and one of the partners in the new business.
Yet the resulting company, Your Tobacco Link (YTL), is anything but old school. Operationally and administratively headquartered in Santa Cruz do Sul, the epicenter of tobacco cultivation in Brazil, YTL has been designed with the modern, rapidly changing leaf market in mind. It is lean, well connected and fleet footed, ready to scour the globe at a moment’s notice for the right tobacco at the right price. “We have an unrivaled capacity to secure almost any tobacco,” says Franz Demeulemeester, a key executive who came from YTL’s other predecessor company, Belgium-based Tobacco Trading & Services (TTS).
That ability stems from the rich experience and expansive professional networks of JEB and TTS. Both companies have been in business for more than two decades, but each has different strengths and focus areas. “TTS can supply leaf out of 36 origins, including quite a few niche markets that are difficult to penetrate,” says Demeulemeester. Its sourcing areas include off-the-beaten-path origins such as Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, for example. One area the company was struggling in, however, was the United States—a market where JEB was strong. “Jay had customers we did not have and vice versa,” says Demeulemeester.
By combining their assets, the partners reckoned they could step up their service to their customers. “We saw lots of synergies between what JEB and TTS were doing; it is one of those rare instances where one plus one truly equals three,” says Barker, noting that in some mergers, “one and one doesn’t even equal two.”
Despite the obvious advantages, the “marriage” didn’t happen overnight. Rather, it was preceded by a long courtship. Barker had been running JEB’s Brazilian operations from an office in Santa Cruz do Sul. As the work mounted, he started contracting ever more of it to TTS’ logistics department. A full merger seemed the next logical step, but Barker, a sharp businessman who values his independence, hesitated. The case for joining forces proved too compelling, however, and as time went by, he came around. “I thought, why not; it actually makes a lot of sense,” says Barker.
He has not regretted the move. In the short time since its creation, YTL has already expanded, enlarging its footprint in Brazil with a more robust farmer base and entering Malawi with new growing operations, for example. “Now we also have Zimbabwe on our radar,” says Barker.

Third-party processing has been a sensible and cost-effective solution for YTL and its customers.
Deep Experience
In addition to an extensive network of global origins, the new company can draw on profound industry knowledge. “Annoyingly for Jay, he is dealing with elderly people,” jokes Demeulemeester, who started his tobacco career in 1984, cleaning a sample room in Santa Cruz do Sul. “TTS has a lot of, let’s say, experienced people.” Add up the tobacco tenures of just the company’s most senior executives, which also includes industry veteran John Derek Visser, and the tally handsomely exceeds 150 years.
Which is not to say that the company’s management is dominated by gray-hairs. Aware of the importance of succession planning, YTL has been actively recruiting a new generation of leaders. That crop includes professionals such as Lucas Dockhorn, the scion of a prominent local tobacco family who unlike some of his contemporaries preferred to stay in the Santa Cruz do Sul region rather than move to a city.
“‘Tobacco’ is truly in my blood,” says Dockhorn, referring to the tendency of tobacco leaf merchants to strongly identify with their profession. Despite the industry’s negative public image (even in tobacco powerhouse Brazil), it has been surprisingly easy to attract young people to the business, according to Barker. “It can be harder to get a bank to deal with your business than to find a new young guy,” he marvels.
We saw lots of synergies between what JEB and TTS were doing; it is one of those rare instances where one plus one truly equals three.
Competitive Strengths
Because of its wide variety of sourcing areas, YTL can offer customers substitutes when supply in one area is either short or expensive, or both, as was the case in Brazil this season (see “The Great Scramble,” Tobacco Reporter, May 2024). “We have not only the ability to offer those alternatives but also the knowledge to guide customers to the appropriate replacements—that you can replace BO1 grades from Brazil with Chinese tobacco from the Hainan region, for example,” says Demeulemeester.
Rather than focusing on individual transactions, YTL is keen to establish long-term, friendly working relationships with its customers. “We will take the job from A to Z,” says Demeulemeester. “To us, business is about more than just buying the best quality for the best price. We can help with logistics or propose better freight rates, for example; you will be surprised how creative we can be.”
Low overheads and short communication lines are additional advantages. “We are very flexible and quick to act,” says Barker, explaining that what the company’s sales team lacks in size it compensates for with ambition. To keep down its expenses, YTL outsources leaf processing. This marketing season, it contracted with Brasfumo in Venancio Aires, but the company has worked with other partners as well. Pointing to the excess capacity in southern Brazil, Barker says third-party processing is a sensible and cost-effective solution for YTL and its customers.
As in every merger, both parties faced a learning curve as the companies came together. For Barker, the deal presented an opportunity to learn about new tobacco origins, including some he wasn’t aware of before as leaf suppliers. “Azerbaijan, for example, is a little gold mine with a very solid supply chain,” he says. “I didn’t even know they grew tobacco.” To familiarize himself with all those areas, Barker traveled more in 2022 than he had in many years. “It’s been an exciting journey for me,” he says, stressing the continued importance of face-to-face meetings even in the Zoom era. The TTS team, in turn, was impressed by the dexterity of JEB’s operations. “The decision-making process is much quicker at JEB,” says Demeulemeester. “That’s definitely a plus point for the customer.”
The merger remains a work in progress. Tobacco is a notoriously conservative business, and some customers need time to approve new suppliers, even if they have known the people running those businesses for many years. For the time being, customers of YTL’s predecessor companies will have the option to continue doing business with either JEB or TTS. “The Idea is to eventually have everything under one umbrella—but if needed, we still have the mechanisms to use both JEB and TTS,” says Barker, who expects the merger to be fully completed within a year.
In the meantime, YTL is already thinking about the future. Among other projects, the company is considering expanding into supplemental agricultural commodities, such as hemp fiber and industrial hemp. Such initiatives will provide the firm with additional streams of income in the medium term while also protecting it against the impact of declining global cigarette sales in the long run.
This, in turn, fits well with the partners’ shared ambition to leave a legacy. “Our goal is to create a sustainable company where our youngsters will have a good future,” says Barker. “The decisions we make today will have a real impact on these people and their families. Our job is to provide a stable foundation.” That means being creative and thinking outside the box while at the same time being realistic about the possibilities. “We’ll be chasing real opportunities, not rainbows,” says Barker.
Taco Tuinstra is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial director.Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, he coordinates the work of staff writers and contributors.On his watch, Tobacco Reporter has won several awards for editorial excellence.Since joining the magazine in 1997, Taco has visited more than 75 countries to meet industry representatives in their markets and to report tobacco news firsthand.

July 1, 2024
A Clean Sweep

Holger Twrdy
At Cerdia’s much-anticipated 12th filter colloquium, speakers detailed the progress in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
By Stefanie Rossel
“On the road toward a sustainable future” was the theme of Cerdia’s 12th filter colloquium, which took place in Freiburg, Germany, June 3–5. The conference has a rich tradition. Except for the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, the acetate tow manufacturer’s event has taken place every three years since the mid-1980s. This year, speakers from all parts of the tobacco industry supply chain shared their strategies to reduce their carbon footprint.
Sustainability has always been important to Cerdia, which was created after the Blackstone Group purchased Rhodia’s acetate tow business in 2016. However, as Cerdia CEO Jens Ebinghaus explained in his opening speech, the topic gained even greater prominence after the acquisition and the company’s subsequent rebranding.
Cerdia employs approximately 1,100 people worldwide and has revenues of around $750 million. In addition to its Freiburg facility, it operates factories in Santo Andre, Brazil; Serpukhov, Russia; and Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. While investing in core filter tow technology and diversifying into new business segments, the company focuses heavily on ESG, which encompasses energy diversity and efficiency as well as safety, compliance and governance, and community engagement.
In 2023, Cerdia allocated 45 percent of its capital expenditure to projects supporting sustainability. According to Ebinghaus, the business environment for tow manufacturers has become significantly more volatile since 2019. The rising costs of raw materials, for example, has forced manufacturers to increase efficiencies. At times and often regionally, the industry also suffered from issues relating to transportation, disrupting supply chains. In addition, the geopolitical situation has become more challenging, with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East erecting new hurdles for business, for example. At the same time, business opportunities have emerged from next-generation products such as heated-tobacco products (HTPs), sales of which have been growing rapidly in recent years.

Maria Viloria
Lots of Levers
Part of Cerdia’s roadmap to sustainability was a “double materiality” assessment, carried out in 2022, according to Maria Viloria, Cerdia’s head of sustainability and R&D. Through a survey, the company learned what was most important to its customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Based on these findings, it created a “significance map” that put Cerdia’s ESG priorities in perspective. The company then developed a set of sustainability objectives that are in line with the U.N. Sustainable Development goals and established a sustainability committee to support its strategy.
By 2030, Cerdia aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent, its landfill waste to zero and its water withdrawal by 10 percent compared to 2019. Medium and major injuries are to be reduced to zero and complaints to under 0.5 per delivered kiloton. The company has been sourcing its wood pulp from 100 percent certified sustainable forestry for years.
By 2030, Cerdia aims to have trained 95 percent of its employees in compliance and to have fully implemented the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In autumn 2024, Cerdia will move its Basel headquarters to a new, carbon dioxide (CO2)-neutral building. The company, which in 2021 received a silver medal from the business sustainability rating provider Ecovadis, is now aiming for gold.
Cerdia’s new biosteam project, which is planned to come online in the first quarter of 2025, will play a vital role in the company’s CO2 reduction strategy by using biomass for steam production, according to Holger Twrdy, Cerdia’s vice president, manufacturing. The power plant will reduce the Freiburg factory’s CO2 emissions by 15 percent to 20 percent, or 26,000 tons annually, and Cerdia’s overall CO2 emissions by 10 percent.
Further CO2 reduction of around 1,500 tons per year will come from a new absorption column in the Freiburg plant’s acetone absorption division, which will also start production early next year. In addition, the company will expand an existing CO2-free residential heating project, supplying green energy to Freiburg’s Dietenbach district.

Esther Abe
HTPs on the Rise
Esther Abe, Cerdia’s market intelligence manager, provided an overview of the global tobacco market during the colloquium. After years of decline, cigarette sales stabilized in 2020, and Abe expects them to grow slightly, with increases in HTP and super-slim cigarette sales offsetting declines in other categories.
She expected the global cigarette market to reach 5.55 trillion sticks in 2024 and anticipates it to increase to 5.7 trillion units by 2030. According to Abe, China’s cigarette market is likely to increase by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.3 percent by 2030 due to the rising popularity of super slims and restrictions on vape products while HTPs are the fastest-growing segment in the rest of the world.
Abe expects sales of combustible cigarettes to remain stable in China but to decline in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Americas and Europe. The main sources of volume growth will likely be Africa and the Middle East, she said.
The HTP category is envisaged to grow by a CAGR of 17 percent, to reach approximately 526 billion sticks in 2030. While Cerdia will remain focused on filter tow for the tobacco industry, which accounts for 85 percent of its business, it is also exploring other lines of business. To that end, the company recently established a new business development (NBD) team, which is exploring complementary acetate tow applications.
According to NBD head Josef Hudina, the product is meltable in various recipes, soluble in many eco-friendly solvents and hydrophobic enough to be suitable as a plastic substitute. Moreover, it can be processed in the form of fibers, films, granules or powders. With its new cellulose acetate compounds, CellspherA Micro and CellspherA Granules, Cerdia offers an alternative to fossil materials that are widely used in the personal care industry. As the EU microplastic restriction boosts the demand for natural alternatives, Hudina is convinced that cellulose acetate could pass the EU microplastic exemption.
Speakers at the colloquium anticipated tobacco industry regulations to increase further.
Cerdia Product Stewardship Manager Emmerich Sackers detailed the scope and requirements of the European Deforestation Regulation, which entered into force in 2023 and will apply to large businesses from the end of this year.
Jan Muecke, managing director of the German Association of the Tobacco Industry and New Products, pointed out that the recent decision at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to focus on the environmental concerns described in FCTC Article 18 will likely influence how the EU Tobacco Products Directive, the U.N. International Plastic Treaty and the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive end up dealing with cigarette filters.
Further legislative initiatives are underway under the European Green Deal, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the CSRD, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the EU Batteries Regulation and the Green Claims Directive.

Jens Ebinghaus
Comprehensive Approach Required
Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, the road to sustainability is a puzzle with many pieces, all of which are vital. Logistics, for instance, account for 11 percent to 12 percent of total CO2 emissions, as Sergio Barbarino, chairperson of the Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe (ALICE), explained.
The EU aims to decarbonize its transportation sector by 2050. ALICE has identified five pillars for the future of logistics: In addition to energy-efficient fleets and assets that use the lowest possible emissions energy source available, which presently is at the center of efforts, the focus in the mid-term should be on the management of demand, smart use of transport modes and sharing of fleets and assets.
Procurement is another factor. Benjamin Saur, global category manager of sustainability at BAT, shared that 42 percent of his company’s greenhouse gas emissions are under the procurement department’s remit. BAT has designed a Supplier Climate Enablement Program that segments the approach to neither overburden suppliers’ own organizations nor BAT.
In manufacturing, the biggest lever for increasing sustainability lies in increasing machine and process efficiency, according to Klaus Masuch, head of strategic product management secondary at Koerber Technologies. Options for actions, he said, are machinery-driven, people-driven and service-driven improvements along with data-driven and software-driven improvements, with a focus on tobacco savings and emphasis on the development of eco-friendly alternatives, such as biodegradable filters.
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

July 1, 2024