Category: News This Week

  • Tanzania: Leaf Prices Skyrocketing in Tabora

    Tanzania: Leaf Prices Skyrocketing in Tabora

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco leaf prices in Tanzania’s Tabora region have risen tenfold to TZS4,000 ($1.72) per kg this growing season due to the availability of reliable buyers and the quality of the product, reports the Daily News.

    The price rise is a major incentive for small-scale tobacco growers in the region who are increasing their production levels to take advantage. Uyui District Executive Director (DED) Hemed Magaro noted that an increase in tobacco leaf firms have led to stiffer competition and higher prices for the best quality leaf. “There are at least five giant tobacco buyers in the region who led the addition of tobacco grades. This means that not only everybody sells, but at a reasonable price,” he said.

    What’s more, extension officers have been visiting farmers throughout the growing season, giving agronomical advice and related services. This has resulted in better quality leaf.

    Tobacco growers were elated by the firm prices. “Every farmer was crying last harvest season, but the situation is quite opposite at this moment,” said tobacco grower Good Nzola.

    Tanzania Tobacco Board Acting Director Stanley Mnozya said the presence of reliable buyers had improved the availability and quality of tobacco seeds.

    “We continue conducting farmers’ verification so that we can have an exact number and set proper means to serve them,” he said. “We have also made possible the availability of extension officers wherein a person serves at least 150 farmers. As a result, tobacco quality has been upgraded from 67 [percent] to 93 percent.”

  • PMI Eyes Nicotine Gum Manufacturer

    PMI Eyes Nicotine Gum Manufacturer

    Photo: Gevorg Simonyan

    Philip Morris International is interested in acquiring Fertin Pharma, a manufacturer of nicotine chewing gum, according to the Financial Post.

    Financial analysts said that Fertin could be valued at about €600 million ($713.5 million), including debt, in a sale. Fertin, which is the world’s biggest contract development and manufacturing organization for nicotine chewing gum, also helps produce tablets, gum and lozenges used for pain medication, vitamins, cough treatments and sleeping aids.

    Fertin has more than 800 employees spread across research and manufacturing facilities in Canada, Denmark and India that produce three billion units a year, according to its website. PMI has been working to expand its nontobacco offerings amid an increasing focus on health around the world.

  • Mixed Results from San Francisco Flavor Ban

    Mixed Results from San Francisco Flavor Ban

    Photo: Can Balcioglu

    Sales of flavored tobacco products decreased significantly in the wake of San Francisco’s ban, but teenagers were also more likely to take up smoking relative to their peers in other cities, according to two separate studies.

    In the summer of 2018, San Francisco residents voted overwhelmingly to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, including nicotine vaping products and menthol cigarettes. By January 2019, when the prohibition took effect, almost every retailer in the city was immediately compliant.

    A study from researchers at RTI International, Stanford University School of Medicine and the California Tobacco Control Program published in Tobacco Control measured changes in tobacco sales before and after San Francisco’s law prohibiting flavored tobacco products. The study found that sales of all flavored tobacco products—including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes—were virtually eliminated in the city after implementation of the policy, with no evidence of widespread substitution of nonflavored products.

    Sales of all flavored tobacco products decreased by 96 percent in San Francisco after implementation of the city law in early 2019. Total tobacco sales also significantly decreased over the same period, suggesting consumers did not broadly switch to unflavored tobacco products.

    “A reduction in total tobacco sales in SF suggests there was not a one-to-one substitution of tobacco/unflavored products for flavored products,” the authors wrote.

    However, a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that teenagers in San Francisco’s high schools were more likely to take up smoking than teenagers in other U.S. school districts after the city’s flavor ban took effect. (San Francisco later became the first U.S. city to ban sale of all e-cigarettes, but the effects of that were not the subject of the study.)

    Prior to the flavor ban, smoking rates in San Francisco paralleled many cities across the country, showing fewer teens using combustible cigarettes over time. After the city enacted its policy, the odds of smoking among its high school students, relative to trends in comparison school districts, more than doubled.

    The findings come as other cities are acting against flavored tobacco products. On June 16, the Los Angeles City Council voted to end the sale of flavored tobacco products in the city. The measure covers flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars but exempts certain hookah products.

    In California alone, more than 100 cities and counties have cracked down on flavored tobacco products. In 2020, the state acted to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, but the law is on hold because of an effort to overturn it through a November 2022 referendum.

  • Newman Petitions to Import Cuban Tobacco

    Newman Petitions to Import Cuban Tobacco

    Photo: danmir12

    J.C. Newman Cigar Co. has asked the U.S. Department of State for permission to import Cuban tobacco grown by “independent Cuban entrepreneurs” into the United States. The State Department currently allows American companies to legally import coffee and a few other products from Cuba. If granted, J.C. Newman will be able to import the first Cuban tobacco into the United States in 60 years.

    “My family has a long history with Cuban tobacco,” said Drew Newman, great-grandson of company founder J.C. Newman, in a statement. “From 1895 until President Kennedy imposed the Cuban Embargo in 1962, my grandfather and great-grandfather imported millions of pounds of tobacco from Cuba through Tampa. Our last shipment of Cuban tobacco was the subject of a legal dispute decided by the Supreme Court.”

    J.C. Newman saved its final bale of Cuban tobacco, which is now the last bale of pre-embargo Cuban tobacco in the United States. This 60-year-old tobacco continues to age in the basement of J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in Ybor City. 

    Under the so-called Sec. 515.582 program, the State Department allows “commercial imports of certain specified goods and services produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs” in order to “help promote [the Cuban people’s] independence from Cuban authorities.” To help support Cuban independence, J.C. Newman is requesting that the State Department include raw tobacco grown by independent farmers in this program.

    Authorizing the importation of raw tobacco grown in Cuba would allow us to support independent Cuban entrepreneurs and to prove, once again, that we can roll better cigars with Cuban tobacco than Cuba can.

    “Prior to the Embargo, far more cigars were rolled with Cuban tobacco in Tampa than in Cuba because Tampa was home to the world’s best cigar factories,” said Newman. “Authorizing the importation of raw tobacco grown in Cuba would allow us to support independent Cuban entrepreneurs and to prove, once again, that we can roll better cigars with Cuban tobacco than Cuba can.”

  • Mishra to Lead PMI’s Americas Division

    Mishra to Lead PMI’s Americas Division

    Deepak Mishra (Photo: PMI)

    Philip Morris International has appointed former Chief Strategy Officer Deepak Mishra president of its Americas region effective July 1 as part of a restructuring initiative for that division. PMI’s Americas region covers the United States, Canada and Latin America.

    The new structure in the Americas will focus on three areas: strengthening PMI’s leadership in Latin America and Canada as the company accelerates toward a smoke-free future; deepening efforts with partners to commercialize reduced-risk products in the U.S.; and building a vital launchpad for the company’s “beyond nicotine” strategy in the U.S. in coordination with PMI’s life sciences group through expanded partnerships and commercial deployment.

    “I am thrilled to name Deepak Mishra, one of our top business leaders, to one of the most important roles for the future of our company,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement. “In less than three years with PMI, he has been instrumental in shaping our long-term strategy and bringing it to life through strategic partnerships and investments. Deepak brings to the role deep expertise in mergers and acquisitions, a likely component of our beyond nicotine strategy. He is both a visionary and a pragmatist, and I have high expectations for—and full confidence in—what he will accomplish in his new role.”

    Prior to joining PMI, Mishra was managing director of portfolio operations at Centerbridge Partners, a private equity firm, where, from 2014, he led commercial, operational and digital transformations in investments in consumer services, renewable energy and distribution sectors.

    Deepak brings to the role deep expertise in mergers and acquisitions, a likely component of our beyond nicotine strategy.

    Before Centerbridge, Mishra was a partner at McKinsey & Company in London. At McKinsey & Company, he was a member of the consumer goods, retail and operations leadership teams from 2001 to 2014 and supported clients in the fast-moving consumer goods, retail and private equity industries on commercial and operational transformations.

    Mishra started his career as a marketing professional with Procter & Gamble in 1996 and then spent four years at Accenture’s strategy practice in India and Eastern Europe. He holds an undergraduate degree in computer science from BITS Pilani in India and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.

    Martin King (Photo: PMI)

    Martin King, who has been with PMI since 2003, most recently as CEO of PMI America and previously as chief financial officer, president of its Asia region, president of its Latin America and Canada region, and senior vice president of operations, will retire on Aug. 31, 2021. Prior to joining PMI, King served in various positions within Philip Morris USA between 1991 and 2003.

    “We are deeply grateful to Martin King for his many years and many accomplishments at PMI and for the impact he has had in the U.S. in the year he spent getting the market ready for the push we plan to make in bringing both reduced-risk and, eventually, beyond nicotine products to consumers,” said Olczak. “Martin is an outstanding business leader and colleague, and we wish him the very best in the years to come.”

    From July 1, PMI’s strategy and program delivery function, which formerly reported to Mishra, will report to Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Babeau. Ankur Modi will assume the position of global head of strategy and program delivery. On Aug. 1, Reginaldo Dobrowolski will take on the role of vice president and controller, and Andreas Kurali will become deputy chief financial officer of finance transformation.

  • Push for Warnings on Individual Sticks

    Push for Warnings on Individual Sticks

    Photo: Mihail

    Lord Young of Cookham has introduced into the U.K. House of Lords a bill that would require cigarette manufacturers to print health warnings on individual cigarettes. The warnings—written in red on individual cigarettes—would include messages such as “smoking kills” and “you don’t need me anymore.”

    “This is cost-free, popular and more effective than health warnings on packets,” said Young, who is also vice chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health.

    Young had proposed the same measures when he was a health minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, but they were rejected under pressure of the tobacco industry, which claimed the ink on the cigarettes would cause cancer. “Plainly this is nonsense given that tobacco already contains 70 cancer-causing chemicals,” said Young.

    Health groups welcomed the proposal. “Cigarettes not cigarette packs kill smokers, so obviously the sticks themselves are where health warnings are most needed,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), in a statement.

    “Lord Young’s private member’s bill could finally put the warnings on cigarettes he first proposed four decades ago. His bill is supported by parliamentarians, leading health organizations and the public.

    “All that is needed is the support of government and Britain can become the first nation in the world to put ‘Smoking Kills’ where it belongs—on the cigarette itself.”

    Cigarettes not cigarette packs kill smokers, so obviously the sticks themselves are where health warnings are most needed.

    According to ASH, public support for this measure is high. In a poll conducted by YouGov for the organization, 70 percent of those surveyed supported the proposal for health warnings to be printed on cigarette sticks, two-thirds of them strongly. Only 8 percent opposed the proposal with the remainder (22 percent) answering that they neither supported nor opposed the proposal or didn’t know.

    “Too many young people are still taking up smoking,” said Cancer Research U.K. Director of Policy Emlyn Samuel. “Government anti-smoking campaigns and tax rises on cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco remain the most effective ways to stop young people starting smoking. However, we need to continue to explore innovative methods to deter them from using cigarettes to ensure that youth smoking rates continue to fall. Cancer Research U.K.-funded research shows that tactics like making the cigarettes themselves unappealing could be an effective way of doing this.”

    Simon Clark from smokers’ campaign group Forest said the idea to put the warnings on cigarettes was “laughable.”

    “Smokers are well aware of the health risks,” he said.

  • JT Publishes Human Rights Report

    JT Publishes Human Rights Report

    Japan Tobacco has published its first Human Rights Report, showcasing the group’s contributions over the past decade to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, marking the 10th anniversary of their inception.

    The report sets out the pillars of JT Group’s human rights strategy, which is an essential part of the group’s business activities and one of three absolute requirements of its sustainability strategy.

    “This important milestone for the U.N. and the global business community is an opportunity to highlight our progress and the ongoing process of embedding human rights into every area of our business,” said Masamichi Terabatake, president and CEO of JT Group, in a statement.

  • Lil Expands into Eastern Europe and Central Asia

    Lil Expands into Eastern Europe and Central Asia

    Lil Solid 2.0 with Armenian health warnings
    (Phot: KT&G)

    KT&G’s Lil Solid 2.0 device and its Fiit heated-tobacco stick continues its global expansion with new launches in Central Asia and Southeastern Europe.

    As part of a collaboration agreement between KT&G and Philip Morris International, Lil Solid 2.0 has been introduced into four Eurasian countries during the second quarter of 2021.

    The device and its consumables debuted in Armenia on June 14. The products were also commercialized in Serbia and Kyrgyzstan on June 3 and 7, respectively. Lil Solid 2.0 and Fiit were previously introduced in Kazakhstan on May 13.

    Lil Solid 2.0 is a second-generation model of KT&G’s heat-not-burn product with enhanced performance and design to improve consumer satisfaction. The product was first launched nationally in Korea in January this year. According to KT&G, it gained significant traction with its upgraded battery efficiency and induction heating technology.

    The Lil Solid 2.0 device is available in two colors, Stone Grey and Cosmic Blue, in its new markets. The sticks come in seven types, including Fiit Regular, Fiit Viola And Fiit Crisp. Three or four types are sold in each country depending on the market situation.

    Following the recent commercialization of Lil Solid 2.0 in four new markets, the Lil brand now is present in seven markets outside of South Korea. Previously, varieties of the brand were introduced in Russia, Ukraine and Japan.

    “As Lil Solid 1.0 and Lil Hybrid 2.0 have been well received in their respective markets, we look forward for encouraging performance from Lil Solid 2.0 as well,” said Wang Seop Lim, chief of KT&G’s next-generation products business division, in a statement. “We will continue to provide broader choices to consumers outside Korea in the second half of this year through collaboration with PMI.”

  • BAT: Modern Oral Comparable to NRT

    BAT: Modern Oral Comparable to NRT

    New research published today indicates that BAT’s modern oral products in the form of tobacco-free nicotine pouches have a toxicant profile that is comparable to nicotine-replacement therapies (NRTs) and much lower than traditional oral snus, a category of products that when used as the sole nicotine product is already established as a reduced-risk product compared with cigarettes.

    The study, published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, analyzed four variants of one of BAT’s modern oral nicotine pouch products Lyft+, three snus products, and two different NRT products in a lozenge and a gum format. Each of these products was tested for a range of known harmful and potentially harmful constituents.

    The results showed that the modern oral products had a comparable toxicant profile to NRTs, which are currently considered to be the least risky of all nicotine products. The study also estimated that users of the studied modern oral products are likely to be exposed to far fewer and significantly lower levels of toxicants than those who use snus.

    According to BAT, the findings suggest that modern oral products, such as Lyft and Velo, should be placed close to NRTs at the lowest exposure end of the nicotine product toxicant delivery continuum.

    “These results add to the growing body of evidence to support the reduced-risk potential of modern oral products compared to continuing to smoke,” said Aaron Williams, head of science and R&D, in a statement.

    These results add to the growing body of evidence to support the reduced-risk potential of modern oral products compared to continuing to smoke.

    “They provide important new evidence to support the role of modern oral products in tobacco harm reduction by demonstrating that they have far fewer and much lower levels of toxicants compared with cigarette smoke and even compared with Swedish-style snus, which is already well established as a reduced-risk product when used as the sole nicotine product.

    “This means smokers looking for an alternative nicotine product have another alternative offering greatly reduced exposure to toxicants that comes in an oral format that some may find convenient and easy to use.”

  • Experts Call For Global Access to Safer Nicotine

    Experts Call For Global Access to Safer Nicotine

    Photo: Aleksej

    International public health specialists, scientists, doctors, tobacco control experts and consumers are convening for the Global Forum on Nicotine 2021 June 17 and 18 in Liverpool, U.K., and streaming free online, to highlight the vital role of safer nicotine products in the fight to reduce global smoking-related death and disease.

    Experts at the forum will discuss tobacco harm reduction, a concept that calls for encouraging adult smokers who cannot quit nicotine to switch from dangerous combustible or oral products to safer nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, pasteurized snus, nontobacco nicotine pouches and heated-tobacco devices.

    “Up to 98 million consumers worldwide have already made the switch to safer nicotine products,” said GFN director Gerry Stimson, emeritus professor at Imperial College London, in a statement.

    Public health will not be served nor lives saved by a war on nicotine, as doomed to failure as the war on drugs. The WHO must refocus its efforts on supporting 1.1 billion adult smokers to quit by all available means.

    “In England, health authorities support vaping to quit smoking, and vapes are now the most popular quit aid. Tobacco-related mortality in Sweden, where snus has almost replaced smoking, is the lowest in Europe. And in Japan, cigarette sales have dropped by a third since heated-tobacco products came to market. Manufacturers must now ensure safer alternatives are affordable to people in LMIC [low- to middle-income countries], not just consumers in high income nations,” he said.

    “Worryingly, international tobacco control leaders are doggedly pursuing an irresponsible prohibitionist approach to tobacco and nicotine, while the WHO actively perpetuates misinformation on new nicotine products. Public health will not be served nor lives saved by a war on nicotine, as doomed to failure as the war on drugs. The WHO must refocus its efforts on supporting 1.1 billion adult smokers to quit by all available means.”