Category: Featured

Kaival Appoints New Board Members
Kaival Brands Innovations Group has appointed Paul Reuter, Carolyn Hanigan and Roger Brooks to its board of directors.
In addition to gaining the experience and judgment that the new members will bring to the board, their appointments are intended to ensure the company complies with certain corporate governance rules ahead of its planned Nasdaq uplisting.
“We are very pleased that Paul, Carolyn and Roger have agreed to join us as new members of the board,” said Niraj Patel, CEO of Kaival Brands, in a statement. “Coming off a remarkable year that demonstrated the strength of our team and products, these three individuals are joining the company at an exciting time. We look forward to benefiting from their diverse backgrounds and respective expertise.”
Reuter brings nearly five decades of industry experience in small box retail as a journalist, editorial director, entrepreneur and speaker. He has launched two businesses, including MidWest Retail Group, where he served as chairman and founding partner from April 2013 through June 2019. He is also the founder of Kreative Collaborations, an industry consultancy.
Prior to her retirement, Hanigan was the president of Reynolds American Innovation Co., an operating company of Reynolds American Inc. (RAI). Hanigan led the global vapor collaboration with British American Tobacco (BAT) up until RAI was acquired by BAT in 2017.
Coming off a remarkable year that demonstrated the strength of our team and products, these three individuals are joining the company at an exciting time.
Niraj Patel, CEO, Kaival Brands
She was the architect of RAI’s U.S. reduced-risk products strategic direction to further the vision of transforming tobacco. Under her leadership, RAI prepared both the U.S. commercial execution and regulatory applications for the Glo tobacco-heating products, the Velo nicotine pouches, and the Alto, Ciro, Vibe and Solo nicotine vaporizers.
Brooks is currently the chairman, treasurer and co-founder of Abierto Networks. Prior to his roles at Abierto Networks, from 1998 to 2008, Brooks was the lead independent director and member of the compensation and audit committees for Moldflow Corp. From 2017 to 2019, Brooks served as an independent director of Lytron Incorporated.
Kaival Brands recently reached $100 million in revenues.
March 22, 2021
Becerra Confirmed as Secretary of HHS

Xavier Becerra (Photo: State of California Department of Justice)
The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Xavier Becerra as President Biden’s secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), reports The New York Times.
Becerra will take charge as the Biden administration is working to lead the nation out of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden’s selection of Becerra was a surprise, and it set off an immediate debate over whether, as a lawyer, he was the correct choice to lead a department that oversees high-profile medical agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. Republicans argued he was unqualified.
Democrats argued that Becerra had deep expertise in health policy. As California’s attorney general, he led 20 states and the District of Columbia in a campaign to protect the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled by his Republican counterparts. He has also been vocal in the Democratic Party about fighting for women’s health, including access to contraceptives and abortion.
In a tweet earlier this year, Derek Yach, president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, described the nomination of Becerra as a “serious missed opportunity.”
“At a time of public health crisis, deep expertise in public health, medicine and science should matter,” Yach wrote. “Sadly, this is not apparent in the pick of the lead cabinet health voice.”
James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, welcomed Becerra’s appointment, citing his leadership in tackling cigarette addiction.
According to Mish, Secretary Becerra is a long-time proponent of a reduced nicotine cap for cigarettes and tougher regulation for the tobacco industry. While serving as the attorney general of California in 2018, Becerra and five other attorneys general wrote a letter in response to the FDA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, strongly supporting a tobacco product standard for the nicotine level of combusted cigarettes.
“We look forward to joining Secretary Becerra, the HHS and the FDA on tackling the pressing public health tragedy caused by addictive cigarettes that is costing millions of Americans’ lives and billions of dollars each year,” said Mish in a statement.
March 19, 2021
Buyers Commit to Paying Above Minimum

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The Malawi government has signed an agreement with tobacco leaf buyers that commits the buyers to purchase all leaf above the agreed minimum price that has been set for this year’s tobacco marketing season.
The minimum leaf price has not yet been for the 2021 growing season. Agriculture Minister Lobin Lowe said that the government expects higher prices this year because production is well below the anticipated level, reports the Nyasa Times.
Leaf buyers are looking to purchase about 132 million kg of leaf in Malawi this season, but estimates indicate that only 122 million kg have been produced.
March 19, 2021
Tobacco Brand Selection Dwindling in N. Ireland

Illustration Skypixel | Dreamstime.com
Cigarette makers are removing their brands from the Northern Ireland market due to the additional costs incurred from post-Brexit rules, reports Belfast Live.
The Northern Ireland Protocol requires tobacco products sold in the region to continue to bear EU pictorial health warnings, whereas the remainder of the U.K. is moving to Australia’s style of health warnings.
The protocol, which was agreed upon by the EU and U.K. to avoid a hard border on Ireland, keeps Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods but includes extra checks and regulatory processes for products arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
Imperial Brands announced that it will withdraw some of its brands in Northern Ireland due to the cost of establishing separate production lines for the different packaging.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) announced a similar type of move, saying, “the post-Brexit requirement to have different packaging in Northern Ireland (i.e., different health warnings) will mean a very small additional reduction in our NI product range. JTI’s product range in Northern Ireland remains extensive, and whenever we delist a product, we always take consumer needs into careful consideration to ensure we have a range of alternatives and pack formats/sizes available within our brand portfolio for adult consumers to choose from.”
March 19, 2021
NATO Celebrates 20th Anniversary
The U.S. National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, reports CStore Decisions. The organization was founded in 2001 to fill a need for a national association that served tobacco outlet stores but has expanded to include every category of retail store that sells tobacco products.
NATO’s mission is to improve business conditions for retailers that sell tobacco in the U.S. while providing information to members on federal, state and local regulations and laws that pertain to the sale, advertising, promotion, regulation and taxation of tobacco products.

For convenience stores, there is a need for up-to-date information on local, state and federal legislation as well as FDA regulations. NATO has a special expertise on each of these levels of government, which is beneficial to the convenience store segment.
Thomas Briant, executive director, NATO
The association also offers retailers information on how best to comply with various regulations and laws as well as how to respond to proposed regulations. NATO’s membership comprises more than 62,000 retail stores (tobacco stores, convenience stores, service stations, grocery stores, liquor stores and corner retail markets).
NATO counts nearly 30 manufacturers from every segment of the tobacco industry and numerous wholesalers among its members. “For convenience stores, there is a need for up-to-date information on local, state and federal legislation as well as FDA regulations,” said Thomas Briant, executive director of NATO. “NATO has a special expertise on each of these levels of government, which is beneficial to the convenience store segment.”
March 19, 2021
Egypt Asked to Broaden Manufacturing Bid

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Nakhla Tobacco Co., Imperial Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Al-Mansour International Co. have asked Egypt to broaden the conditions of a prospective license to manufacture cigarettes in the country, reports Reuters.
Egypt has invited tobacco companies to bid for a license to manufacture cigarettes in the country, which has been dominated for decades by the Eastern Co. state monopoly. The winning bid must include a plan to begin production within three years and at a rate of at least 15 billion cigarettes per year.
The companies that were invited to bid said the license’s conditions were too narrow and asked the prime minister to halt the bid round until they could be made fairer.
The bid deadline has been set for April 4, with the auction to be held on June 6.
The cigarette industry contributes more than EGP60 billion Egyptian ($3.8 billion) to government coffers yearly, according to the state Industrial Development Authority.

March 19, 2021
FDA Accepts Halo Market Application
Photo: Nicopure
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted all Halo products’ premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) for the substantive scientific review phase.
Just over six months after submission, Nicopure Labs’ PMTAs for Halo Turkish Tobacco E-liquid, Halo Triton II Starter Kit, Halo ZERO Starter Kit and all supporting consumable components have been accepted and advanced to the final phase, substantive scientific review, by the FDA.
Halo’s first round of products was accepted and advanced three days after submission.
“Halo’s more than 12 years of commitment to producing the highest quality vaping products available for adult consumers has been our organization’s mission for more than a decade,” said Jeffrey Stamler, co-founder of Nicopure Labs, in a statement.
“We believe in science, and we believe in transparency; we are honored to continue to work with the FDA, and as always, in the best interest of the industry and the most important thing of them all, our loyal customers.”
Halo FDA accepted premarket tobacco product applications include:
Halo Tribeca Tobacco e-liquid
Halo SubZero Menthol e-liquid
Halo Turkish Tobacco e-liquid
Halo Fusion Unflavored Tobacco e-liquid
Halo Triton II Starter Kit (and supporting consumable components)
Halo ZERO Starter Kit (and supporting consumable components)
March 19, 2021
Baek Reappointed as Chief Executive of KT&G

Bok-In Baek
Bok-In Baek was appointed CEO of KT&G Corp. at the company’s 34th annual general meeting held on March 19 in Daejeon. Baek will lead KT&G for another term of three years.
Baek joined Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corp. in 1993 and has held key roles in the company’s core businesses, including strategy, marketing, global business, manufacturing and R&D.
As CEO, Baek focused on the growth of the company’s global business, expanding into more than 100 countries and executing a KRW2.2 trillion export agreement in the Middle East. Baek also achieved an export agreement under which Philip Morris International commercializes KT&G’s Lil tobacco-heating device outside of South Korea. On Baek’s watch, KT&G breached the KRW5 trillion revenue mark for the first time in the corporation’s history.
A hands-on leader, Baek has a deep understanding of the industry. His strong planning and management skills have allowed the company’s main pillars—e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products—to grow simultaneously.
I will devote myself to seeking a new growth engine through business diversification.
Bok-In Baek
“I feel a great sense of responsibility in leading the organization amid a management environment of growing uncertainties across the world,” said Baek in a statement. “With further sophistication of the overseas business, KT&G will establish a strong foothold as a global corporation, and I will devote myself to seeking a new growth engine through business diversification. I will also do my utmost to create social values based on ESG management.”
Also at the general meeting, KT&G appointed its chief of strategy and planning, Kyung Man Bang, as an executive director. Former SK Materials CEO Min-Kyu Lim was reappointed as independent nonexecutive director, and Jong-Soo Baek, former chief prosecutor of the Busan district prosecutor’s office, was reappointed as auditor and nonexecutive director.
Tobacco Reporter profiled KT&G in its July 2020 issue.
March 19, 2021
Competition Watchdog Fines Distributor

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Ukraine’s Anti-Monopoly Committee (AMCU) on March 17 fined Ukraine’s largest tobacco distribution company, Tedis, $9.8 million for noncompliance with an earlier ruling, reports the Kyiv Post.
In December 2016, the AMCU fined Tedis $16 million for abusing its monopoly position in 2013–2015, when the distributor’s market share reached 99.4 percent. The company was also instructed to restore competition in the tobacco market.
Tedis plans to appeal, calling the decision “absolutely groundless.” The company says it paid $11.5 million in 2017 and $4.5 million in 2020 and complied with all the other requirements of the committee.
Tedis’s monopoly first caught the eye of AMCU in 2014, when cigarette retailers started to complain about the lack of competition in the tobacco distribution market. A report by the Redcliffe Partners law firm published in January 2020 showed that by 2015, there were 22 tobacco products distributors on the market, but only one was actually selling them—Tedis.
Tedis entered Ukraine in 2010, when the market had more than 50 cigarette distributors. Gradually, Tedis began to acquire other distributors, taking a bigger share of the market. At the time, AMCU approved the acquisitions.
Within a few years, Tedis dominated the market, selling products of Philip Morris International (PMI), Japan Tobacco International, Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco (BAT). According to the Redcliffe Partners report, those tobacco companies, together with Tedis, restricted market access of other players.
In 2019, AMCU fined Tedis and four tobacco producers $265 million for creating a monopoly—one of the biggest fines in Ukraine’s history. Tedis never paid because Ukraine’s Supreme Court in February 2021 exempted Tedis from paying the fine.
Tobacco firms appealed the ruling but lost their initial cases. The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine expressed concern about the fairness of the trial.
In August 2020, PMI paid UAH1.18 billion ($66.07 million) for its share in the case. In February 2021, a Ukrainian court upheld BAT’s appeal of the fine.
March 19, 2021
Swisher and EAS Expand Partnership

Photo: EAS
Swisher and E-Alternative Solutions (EAS) have expanded their partnership to support the marketing, sales and distribution of EAS’s Leap and Leap Go vapor brands. Both companies will remain separate entities with EAS benefitting from the additional support and strength of Swisher’s world-class sales and marketing organization.
Jeffrey Brown, formerly vice president of sales for EAS, has been named general manager of EAS and will take the lead in the evolution of the partnership.
“Jeff is a well-respected leader with more than three decades of industry experience, and as general manager, he is the natural choice to take the EAS business to the next level and drive our respective brand expansion goals,” said John Miller, president and CEO of Swisher, in a statement. “In the short term, the expanded partnership between EAS and Swisher will remain transparent to our valued customer base, and we will be following up with additional details as they become available.”

I look forward to working with the Swisher sales and marketing teams and taking the Leap and Leap Go brands to the next level.
Jeffrey Brown, general manager, EAS
“I couldn’t be more excited about this arrangement and look forward to working with the Swisher sales and marketing teams and taking the Leap and Leap Go brands to the next level,” said Brown. “EAS was built from the ground up to prosper in the highly regulated tobacco environment, and with the bench strength of the Swisher sales and marketing teams, we have the power to broaden our reach and expand the distribution of these great brands,” he added.
Over the past several years, Swisher has continued to expand its offerings to include smokeless tobacco products, premium cigars and modern oral nicotine products to appeal to diverse and changing consumer tastes. Broadening its strategic partnership with EAS is another step toward becoming a more consumer-centric company.
March 19, 2021