Author: Taco Tuinstra

Dutch Lawmakers Want ‘Boring’ Vapes

Photo: pathdoc
Dutch parliamentarians want e-cigarettes and other vaping products to have a uniform appearance, reports RTL Nieuws.
According to the D66, which will submit the proposal in parliament today, the new rules will make vaping less attractive to teenagers. A majority in parliament supports the plan, RTL Nieuws reports.
“Young people now think it’s cool to have such an accessory with glitter while vaping is extremely unhealthy,” D66 parliamentarian Jeanet van der Laan told the broadcaster. “The vapes resemble a lip gloss or a marker. They are often colorful, and there are vapes full of glitter. Parents often have no idea exactly what the young people are carrying. Super worrying.”
There are even e-cigarettes in circulations that look like airpods, Van der Laan said. “That makes it look like a glamor accessory, while it is just smoking and therefore harmful to health. And young people are tempted by all those frills to start smoking.”
“E-cigarettes should look as neutral and uniform as possible. Preferably they should resemble regular cigarettes. Or else just white or black. Because it’s just smoking,” D66’s MP said. She believes a more boring appearance will make vaping less attractive to young people.
The lower house of the Dutch parliament is discussing smoking on Wednesday. D66’s proposal seems to have majority support, according to RTL.
The Netherlands previously announced a ban on flavored e-liquids.
March 8, 2023
Zimbabwe: Prices up as Auctions Open

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Tobacco prices in Zimbabwe fetched $4.35 per kg at the start of the new marketing season today, up from $4.20 last year, reports Reuters.
“It looks like we are going to have a good crop,” said Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) Chairman Patrick Devenish, who credited favorable rainfalls.
The TIMB expects the country to produce 230 million kg of tobacco this year, 8.5 percent more than in 2022.
Tobacco land use grew to 117,000 hectares this year from 110,000 hectares in 2022, according to the TIMB. The industry also saw an increase in the number of tobacco farmers to 148,527 this year from 123,000 in 2022.
The tobacco industry contributes nearly $1 billion to export earnings every year, Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said on March 8. Government statistics showed it accounted for more than 12 percent of exports in January.
Zimbabwe is currently implementing a “Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan,” which seeks to extract more profit from the sector by processing raw leaf into higher-value products.
“We seek to localize the financing of tobacco. We wish to transform the tobacco sector so we don’t export value,” Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said on March 8.
“This industry is on the cusp of growth.”
March 8, 2023
Kaival Signs New Distribution Agreements

Photo: Bidi Vapor
Kaival Brands Innovations Group, the exclusive U.S. distributor of Bidi Vapor products, has entered into agreements representing potential new distribution to approximately 13,500 locations.
Under the terms of the agreements, Bidi Vapor’s Bidi Stick will initially be activated in 700 locations, with another 1,500 locations expected within the next 90 days. All of the new locations meet Kaival Brand’s and Bidi Vapor’s requirements for customer identification verification and youth-access prevention.
“We are excited to announce these significant new distribution agreements, totaling up to 13,500 new locations, as we look to continue the ramp up of marketing and sales activity for Bidi Stick. Since Bidi Vapor succeeded in its merits case against the FDA vacating FDA’s marketing denial order for ENDS products in August 2022, we have seen a resurgence of interested retailers and potential distributors,” said Kaival Brands President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Mosser in a statement.
“While the FDA continues to move slowly in enforcing against bad actors, major retailers are showing their commitment to e-cigarettes as a category and using corporate discretion to select brands that are committed to youth-access prevention and responsible marketing of adult products. We believe our products fit squarely in this category, and we are hopeful that this positioning will lead to greater revenues for Kaival Brands during 2023.”
“We are excited to increase the reach of the Bidi Stick by up to 13,500 new stores,” stated Russell Quick, president of QuikfillRx, which operates under the name Kaival Marketing Services. “These new agreements represent an immediate impact of 700 new locations to start and we believe represents a vote of confidence that retailers have in us and our products.”
March 8, 2023
Appointments at RAI

Priscilla Samuel (Photos: RAI)
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) has appointed two senior leaders within its operating companies.
Priscilla Samuel, currently senior vice president of scientific regulatory affairs within the Reynolds organization, has been appointed to the role of executive vice president of scientific research and development, succeeding James Murphy. In her new role, Samuel will serve on the RAI management team and report to Reynolds’ president and CEO, Guy Meldrum. Murphy will join the BAT management board as director of research and science, reporting to BAT CEO Jack Bowles.
In her role, Samuel will oversee the Reynolds organization’s scientific research and product development efforts on tobacco harm reduction and “beyond nicotine” as well as regulatory strategies and advocacy efforts, accelerating the delivery of the global BAT Group’s “A Better Tomorrow” corporate purpose in the U.S.
She is an experienced research and development executive, a seasoned business leader and a scientist, with strategic global expertise in scientific and regulatory affairs, product and ingredient innovation, clinical and pre-clinical research and key opinion leader engagement. Before joining Reynolds, Samuel was chief science officer for Blue California, an ingredient company, and before that, she held progressive research and development executive roles with companies across the food, supplement, ingredient and nutrition sectors, including PepsiCo, Mead Johnson/Bristol Myers Squibb, Tate and Lyle, PureCircle Ltd. and Standard Process Inc.

Jonathan Reed
Jonathan Reed, currently group head of combustibles at BAT, will succeed Jorge Araya as executive vice president of marketing and chief commercial officer within the Reynolds organization and join the Reynolds American management team. Araya will transition into the role of area director of South Eastern Europe at BAT.
In his role, Reed will oversee U.S. marketing functions, including consumer, trade and digital marketing, and support the global strategy through a sharp focus on driving U.S. volume share growth as well as increasing U.S. revenue from the group’s U.S. strategic portfolio. Reed’s career with the BAT Group spans over two decades. He has held a variety of senior marketing and general management roles in Europe, Indonesia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Malaysia.
March 8, 2023
Altria Asks FTC to Drop its Juul Challenge

Photo: Paul Brady
Altria Group has asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to drop its 2020 challenge of the company’s 2018 acquisition of a 35 percent share in Juul Labs, reports Reuters. On March 3, the tobacco giant announced it had exchanged its stake for a license to Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property rights.
In its legal challenge, the FTC contends that the tobacco giant’s $12.8 billion investment in Juul violates antitrust law because the company acquired the position rather than continuing to compete against Juul in the market for closed-system e-cigarettes.
In February 2022, an administrative law judge dismissed the FTC’s claims, finding that the evidence failed to sustain the alleged violations.
The next step would have been for the full commission to decide whether to accept that decision and dismiss the FTC case.
However, Altria recently exited its investment and previously terminated a non-compete agreement with Juul that the FTC opposed.
“There is nothing left of the transaction to be challenged. Altria and JLI respectfully ask the commission to dismiss this matter as moot,” Altria Group and Juul Labs wrote in a filing to the FTC.

March 8, 2023
Forest Urges Freeze on U.K. Tobacco Duty

Photo: John Gomez
Smokers’ rights group Forest is urging the U.K. government to freeze excise duty on tobacco in its March 15 budget after a poll found that almost two thirds of respondents (65 percent) believe the tax on tobacco in the United Kingdom is already “about right” (38 percent) or “too high” (27 percent).
Only one in five (20 percent) of those asked think the tax on tobacco is “too low,” while 15 percent said they “don’t know.”
Conducted on behalf of Forest by Yonder, the poll follows a recent report that the cost of a pack of cigarettes could go up by £1.15 ($1.36) after the Budget, while a 30-gram pouch of hand-rolled tobacco could rise by £2, if Chancellor Jeremy Hunt decides to stick with the annual tobacco escalator of inflation plus 2 percent.
The poll also found that 62 percent of adults think that purchasing tobacco from the black market is an “understandable” response given the high cost of tobacco sold legally in the United Kingdom whereas only 22 percent of respondents believe this is not an “understandable” response. Sixteen percent said they “don’t know.”

The Chancellor should freeze duty on tobacco and give smokers a break.
Simon Clark, director, Forest
According to the survey, Brits also believe that the government has more pressing concerns than tackling smoking.
Asked to consider a list of 10 issues for the government to address in 2023, respondents said tackling the rising cost of household utilities such as electricity and gas is the most important priority (54 percent), followed by improving the health service by providing more beds, frontline staff and cutting waiting lists (48 percent), tackling inflation (40 percent), and addressing care for the elderly (32 percent).
Other top priorities included tackling climate change (28 percent), the housing shortage (26 percent), and helping businesses recover from the impact of the pandemic (17 percent).
Tackling smoking was bottom of the list (10 percent), alongside tackling obesity (10 percent), and tackling misuse of alcohol (9 percent).
“The chancellor should freeze duty on tobacco and give smokers a break,” said Forest Director Simon Clark.
“Raising the tax on tobacco not only discriminates against poorer smokers, it will drive more consumers to the unregulated black market.
“This is bad news for legitimate retailers and bad news for the Treasury which could lose billions of pounds in revenue if more consumers buy their tobacco from illicit traders.”
“Significantly, there is very little stigma attached to buying tobacco on the black market. In a cost of living crisis the public understands that many consumers will opt for the cheaper option, even if it’s illegal.”
March 8, 2023
U.K. Chancellor Rejects Single-Use Vape Levy

Photo: marcin jucha
U.K. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has rejected calls from health officials to introduce a new levy on single use vapes in the government budget due to be presented on March 15, reports the news outlet I.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been pushing for the new tax to crack down on underage vaping. The proposals are expected to be included in the government’s response to the Khan Review on smoking, but treasury sources told I that the new levy will not be included in the March 15 budget.
“Department of Health officials are keen, but it’s not going to happen,” a source told I.
Anti-smoking activists too have been urging the government to start taxing disposable vapes. “Increasing the tax on single use disposable vapes in the March budget would be easy to do and by making them less affordable could reduce both child vaping and the vast quantities of single use vapes being thrown into landfill,” Action of Smoking and Health CEO Deborah Arnott was quoted as saying.
“Adult smokers find vaping useful in helping them quit, and that’s something we support. However, in the light of the recent increase in child vaping, government action is urgently needed to tighten regulation and increase enforcement,” Arnott added.
U.K. ministers are reportedly contemplating a range of measures to discourage underage vaping. Among the plans under consideration are a ban on candy-flavored vaping liquids and a crackdown on colorful marketing that could appeal to youth.
Britain bans sales of vapes to anyone below the age of 18, but national surveys have shown an increasing trend of 11-17 year olds using the devices, with health leaders blaming the rise on the marketing and flavors associated with them.
March 8, 2023
Zimbabwe: Optimism Ahead of Sales Season

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Zimbabwe’s tobacco auctions will open tomorrow, March 8, with an official ceremony at the Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF), reports Chronicle. Although the auctions sell only around 5 percent of Zimbabwe’s crop, they are the major price setter and must thus occur first. Deliveries for the contract crop are scheduled to start March 9.
This year’s marketing season kicks off earlier than last year because favorable rainfall has resulted in sufficient volumes of cured and graded tobacco to start selling. In addition to the TSF, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has licensed the Premier Tobacco Auction Floor and the Boka Tobacco Floors to auction tobacco this season.
Farmers interviewed by The Herald said they were optimistic about the upcoming sales season, citing favorable growing conditions and good quality leaf.
“This year’s yield will be better than the previous season due to the implementation of best agronomic practices,” Victor Mariranyika, president of the Tobacco Farmers’ Union Trust, was quoted as saying. “In terms of agronomic practices, the farmers have been looking after the crop very well, from seedbed to the auction, and we don’t expect any damage to the tobacco as a result of the rains.”
Tobacco growers will receive 85 percent of their earnings in U.S. dollars this year, up from 75 percent last. The remainder will be distributed in local currency. About 160,000 farmers grow tobacco in Zimbabwe, which is then exported to 60 countries.
March 7, 2023
Altria to Acquire NJOY Holdings

Photo: tatsianamaphoto
Altria Group has entered into an agreement to acquire NJOY Holdings for approximately $2.75 billion in cash. The transaction terms include additional $500 million in cash payments that are contingent upon regulatory outcomes with respect to certain NJOY products.
“We believe we can responsibly accelerate U.S. adult smoker and competitive adult vaper adoption of NJOY Ace in ways that NJOY could not as a standalone company,” said Altria CEO Billy Gifford in a statement. “We believe the strengths of our commercial resources can benefit adult tobacco consumers and expand competition. We are also excited to welcome NJOY’s talented employees to Altria at closing.”
“As a result of this transaction, Altria’s enhanced smoke-free portfolio will include full global ownership of products and technologies across the three largest smoke-free categories and a joint venture with JT Group for the U.S. commercialization of heated tobacco stick products.”
“We are excited to add NJOY’s e-vapor intellectual property as a new platform that we believe we can build on to help more adult smokers transition to smoke-free alternatives,” said Olivier Houpert, Altria’s new chief innovation and product officer.
Altria will hold a conference call at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on March 6, 2023. Access to the live webcast is available at. A replay of the webcast and a transcript will be available on the same website following the event.
In 2022, the U.S. vapor category comprised nearly 14 million U.S. adult tobacco consumers, including 9.5 million exclusive adult vapers, according to Altria. The segment generated approximately $7 billion in U.S. retail sales and represented approximately 15 percent of total estimated equivalized U.S. tobacco volumes and more than 50 percent of total estimated equivalized smoke-free tobacco volumes.
To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the marketing of 23 vapor products and devices. In 2022, NJOY received marketing granted orders for the NJOY Ace device, along with several tobacco-flavored pods. The regulatory agency is still reviewing NJOY’s premarket tobacco product applications for several NJOY menthol-flavored e-vapor products.
Altria said it had multiple sources of funding for the deal, including cash from a $2.7 billion agreement with Philip Morris International last year for the IQOS Tobacco Heating System.
The NJOY deal follows an announcement by Altria that it would exchange its entire minority investment in embattled Juul Labs for a nonexclusive global license for certain of Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property.
March 6, 2023
22nd Century Group Secures Financing

Photo: vetkit
22nd Century Group announced a new $21 million senior secured debenture financing to support increased working capital needs related to the significant growth outlook in both its VLN and GVB business lines. The new three-year financing was issued at a 5 percent original issuance discount, will bear cash interest at a rate of 7 percent per year and commence principal amortization in the second year at a rate of 2 percent of the original balance per month. The company has the option to redeem the facility early starting in the second year.
“We anticipate significant revenue growth in both of our core business lines and believe this financing will provide the appropriate working capital for the year ahead,” said Hugh Kinsman, chief financial officer, in a statement. “New retail partners already in talks to launch VLN in additional states as part of our national-scale distribution capabilities are expected to increase our manufacturing and inventory requirements. Additionally, the continued growth in customer demand at GVB has increased our capital needs for bulk ingredients and inventory going forward.”
In conjunction with the new credit facility, 22nd Century has also extended the maturity of $2.7 million in legacy seller notes assumed with its acquisition of GVB Biopharma to mid-2024. The company will file a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission with complete details of the new debt facility and the terms of the refinanced legacy seller notes.
March 6, 2023