Category: Business

Swisher International Becomes Swisher

Photo: Swisher
Swisher International will change its corporate identity to Swisher, signifying the expansion of Swisher’s vision, offerings and focus on adult consumer lifestyle.
“While Swisher has always been anchored around its loyal adult consumers, partners and employees, the company is working to build a bold future centered on creativity and innovation,” the company wrote in a press note.
John Miller
“We have truly seen an evolution in the tastes of adult consumers, including the preference for lifestyle products within the tobacco category and beyond,” said John Miller, president of Swisher. “We are poised to explore and innovate in new categories while also preserving the legacies and strengths of our existing product portfolios.”
Best known for its Swisher Sweets cigars and classic tobacco brands such as Optimo, Goodies, King Edward and Mail Pouch, Swisher has in recent years expanded its offerings with Drew Estate’s premium cigars, Hempire hemp rolling papers and Rogue’s portfolio of nicotine-on-demand products.
This strategic approach expands Swisher’s capability to address shifting adult consumer preferences while continuing to focus on success in its core businesses, according to the company.
“Swisher’s five strategic businesses—Swisher Sweets Cigar Company (Large & Little/Filtered Cigars); Fat Lip Brands (Smokeless); Drew Estate (Premium Cigars); Hempire (Hemp Products); and Rogue Holdings (Modern Oral Nicotine)—provide category expertise, product knowledge and a focused approach under a renewed purpose for the company,” the company stated.
August 31, 2020
Philippines-Thailand trade dispute reignites

Photo: hectorgalarza from Pixabay
The Philippines has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement body (DSB) to suspend the country’s concessions to Thailand for products such as motor vehicles exported to Manila.

Thailand has continued to avoid compliance with the WTO ruling that it must align its unfair tax treatment on Philippine cigarette exports, according to the Philippines.

“There are only two options under the reverse-consensus rule of DSU Article 22.6: the DSB granting authorization to suspend concessions or the DSB referring the matter to arbitration,” said the Philippines. “At this meeting of the DSB, the Philippines asks once again that the DSB grant the Philippines the authority it seeks.”

The Philippines sought retaliation against Thailand from the WTO to force the country to align its tax treatment on Philippine cigarettes in February 2020. The WTO first ruled favorably in 2011 and the Philippines won subsequent appeals from Thailand. The Philippines requested from the WTO a suspension of $594 million in trade concessions.
August 24, 2020
BAT Mulls Sale of Globe House

Photo: BAT
British American Tobacco (BAT) is considering a sale-and-leaseback deal for its Globe House headquarters in London. The Times of London reported the tobacco manufacturer may be able to sell the Westminster property for more than £250 million ($328.69 million).
“We are continually striving to become a stronger, simpler and faster organization,” a spokeswoman was quoted as saying. “As part of this journey, we are always exploring ways to best leverage our assets, including the possible option of a sale and subsequent leaseback of our Globe House head office in London.”
She said that irrespective of the outcome, the company had no plans to leave Globe House, which it has occupied since 1998.
In September 2019, BAT cut 2,300 jobs as part of a restructuring effort to focus the firm on e-cigarettes and other new products. The company employs around 55,000 employees worldwide, with 55 factories in 48 countries.
When asked by a U.S. newspaper whether it had plans to sell its U.S. headquarters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, BAT did not comment.
In June 2014, Reynolds American sold its iconic former headquarters building for $7.8 million to PMC Property Group of Philadelphia.
August 20, 2020
Blackbriar Expands Services

Photo: Avail Vapor
Blackbriar Regulatory Services (BRS), a firm specializing in helping small-sized to mid-sized companies bring regulated products to market, is expanding.
Expansion efforts include adding cleanroom manufacturing space, increasing analytical capabilities and expanding regulatory service offerings.
“With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s [FDA] premarket tobacco product application [PMTA] deadline approaching within weeks for existing nicotine-based vaping products currently on the market, we are now seeing an increase in PMTA demand for new, innovative nicotine-based vaping products,” said Russ Rogers, CEO at BRS in a statement.
“The FDA rightly worked with the industry to pause and take a look at the appropriateness of the products on the market, and those companies who understand how to make the highest-quality products are in a position to start working on applications for next- generation technologies that should create dramatically improved user experiences and step-wise safety improvements.”
BRS is under contract to file more product applications before the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline for several U.S. and international customers, and is now starting to prepare PMTA submissions for next generation nicotine-based vapor products for companies that are seeking to revitalize their product portfolio after the recent industry-wide focus on obtaining approval for legacy products.
August 20, 2020
Processing Factory Planned in Montenegro

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Novi Duvanski Kombinat Podgorica (NDKP) plans to construct a €12 million ($14.2 million) primary tobacco processing plant in Montenegro. The new facility will employ 30 people and have a production capacity of 900 tons per month, according to NDKP Executive Director Savka Darmanovic.

NDKP will import leaf tobacco because domestic production is insufficient to satisfy the need for raw material, Darmanovic said, adding that the value of the investment would eventually reach €40 million

“The future factory of primary tobacco production is very demanding in terms of technological and spatial conditions and will require additional space in the future,” Darmanovic said. “It is also necessary to define and allocate special capacities for the purchase of raw tobacco, its storage and preparation process,” she added.

In 2016, the Montenegrin government signed a contract for the sale of NDKP to BMJ Industries of the United Arab Emirates. Under the terms of the deal, BMJ will invest €20 million to recapitalize the Montenegrin company, with the bulk of the resources to be spent on the new factory.
August 10, 2020
Cerulean Shares Insights into Automation

Photo: Cerulean
Cerulean has released a white paper on automating processes in vape laboratories.

“Appropriate automation significantly reduces the variability inherent in some processes and can increase laboratory efficiency as well as presenting the potential for increasing efficiencies by reducing the number of staff present at any point in an analytical cycle, so helping with social distancing in this current climate,” according to Cerulean.

The white paper recommends adopting operator-independent techniques to help smoke and vapor laboratories.
July 31, 2020
Japan Tobacco to Move Tokyo Headquarters

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Japan Tobacco’s new headquarters
Japan Tobacco (JT) will relocate its headquarters to a new location in Tokyo on Oct. 5.
The new address is: Kamiyacho Trust Tower, 24-6, Toranomon 4-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
JT will lease the 26th to 30th floors of the building and occupy 19,253.06 square meters of office space.
The company has approximately 62,000 employees in more than 130 countries.
July 31, 2020
KT&G Aims for No. 4 Position

Photo: KT&G
KT&G has stated that by 2025, it aims to become the fourth largest tobacco company in the world.
“KT&G aims to increase the number of exporting countries from 80 to over 200 by 2025,” the company said in a statement. “Through this, we set the new goal of becoming the No. 4 tobacco company in the global market by then.”
KT&G was the No. 5 tobacco maker in the world by sales volume and market share in 2016, according to Euromonitor International. To reach its No. 4 goal, the company has been exploring new markets and plans to increase investments in its global subsidiaries’ distribution network and marketing infrastructure.
KT&G’s global ambitions were also highlighted in Tobacco Reporter‘s July 2020 issue.
July 28, 2020
Imperial Sells New Zealand Factory

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Imperial Tobacco announced that it has sold its Petone (New Zealand) production facility to a real estate developer and will discontinue its operations at the facility by
Sept. 30. In Feb. it was reported that the factory’s closure would mean the loss of 122 jobs.
The Petone plant predominantly supplies Imperial Tobacco’s products to the Australasian market and is the company’s only factory in New Zealand or Australia.
Located in a popular suburb, the site measures 2.25-hectare and includes a warehouse along with manufacturing and office buildings
The site had been an important part of the Petone economy for around 90 years. W.D and H.O Wills Limited started manufacturing cigarettes in suburb around 1930, after establishing their business in Wellington in 1919 and needing to expand.
Imperial Tobacco had owned the site since the late-1990s
All production at the facility will be taken up by an Imperial facility in Taiwan.
July 27, 2020
IMS Partners With Reifenhauser

Photo: Goebel
IMS Technologies has partnered with Reifenhauser India Marketing Private Limited to reinforce its presence in the Indian market.

“Considering the rapid growth of the converting business in India, it is necessary for the group to further strengthen its presence in the country and to refine its market penetration strategy. Thanks to this partnership, we will be able to improve our support to the existing customers and to approach the new ones more effectively,” said Marino Ferrarese, group sales and marketing director.

Starting in July 2020, Reifenhauser India Marketing Private Limited will represent Goebel IMS. Laem IMS and Rotomac brands will also be available on the market.

“IMS Technologies with its brands Goebel IMS, Laem IMS and Rotomac represents state-of-the-art technologies in the slitting, rewinding and packaging fields. We are very proud to be their representatives in the Indian market,” said Manish Mehta, founder of Reifenhauser India Marketing Private Limited.
July 21, 2020