Category: Featured

GPI Leader Honored for CSR Contributions

From left to right: India’s vice president, Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Bina Modi, along with the lawyers Jyoti Sagar and Lalit Bhasin (Photo: Business Wire)
Bina Modi, the chairperson and managing director of Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) has been recognized for her contributions to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The honor was bestowed by the India’s vice president, Jagdeep Dhankhar, during a recent event in New Delhi.
“I am honored to receive this recognition, which reflects the dedication and hard work of every member of the KK Modi Group family,” said Modi in a statement. “Our ‘people-first’ philosophy, which encompasses all stakeholders of our group companies, remains central to our mission of nation-building and giving back to society. Our CSR initiatives predate their legal mandate in India and are strategically aligned with the global sustainable development goals.”
Driven by Modi’s vision, GPI’s key CSR initiatives have focused on access to safe drinking water, soil and water conservation, plantation and biodiversity, eliminating child labor, improving community health and empowering marginalized tobacco farmers in southern India. In alignment with the commitment of GPI’s partner, Philip Morris International, to good agricultural practices, GPI aims to enhance livelihoods while preserving the environment. GPI’s CSR initiatives were also given a special mention by Control Union, a globally renowned testing, inspection and certification organization.
Modi emphasized the symbiotic relationship between environmental sustainability and community welfare. “We’ve taken proactive steps to establish biodiversity parks, safeguarding and revitalizing native flora and fauna,” she said.
“I am also deeply committed to a bold initiative of large-scale plantation in a semi-arid region of Andhra Pradesh, a state in southern India. We implement check-dams, farm ponds and regular pond de-siltation to promote water conservation in the rain-starved region, enabling farmers to access a secondary water source for cultivating additional crops. By nurturing our environment, we not only preserve natural resources but also create resilient communities capable of thriving in the face of challenges.”
In addition to her dedication to farmer communities, Modi is passionate about the education and empowerment of young girls and women. Through the Khushi project, she aims to sponsor the education and vocational aspirations of rural girls nationwide.
Modi’s recent honor follows earlier recognitions such as Women Empowerment in Leadership and Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year.
May 3, 2024
KT&G Provides Water Filters to Uganda

Photo: KT&G
KT&G is providing 400 environmentally friendly water purification devices worth KRW110 million ($81,406) to 94 primary schools in Uganda. Park Hyeon-seok, KT&G’s Tanzania materials branch manager, attended a distribution ceremony on April 30 in Hoima City, at the heart of Uganda’s tobacco-growing area.
Out of approximately 49.9 million nationals, 9.2 million lack access to safe drinking water, according to According to Uganda’s Water Environment Authority. This contributes to the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera, and typhoid fever, leading to high infant mortality rates and social issues.
The gravity-fed filtration devices supplied by KT&G will not only address Uganda’s drinking water hygiene issues but also replace the traditional water purification methods that involve boiling water using wood and charcoal, thereby saving the equivalent of up to 3,500 tons annually in carbon emissions.
Exporting to more than 130 countries, KT&G says its tries to help solve various social issues in countries where it operates, especially in developing nations. In 2021, KT&G also supported a Tanzanian primary school by providing 1,300 water purification units. Additionally, the company has implemented CSR activities tailored to the specific conditions of various countries. These initiatives include supporting vocational training centers in Indonesia, establishing agroforestry education centers in Mongolia, and constructing schools in Laos.
“We hope that this water purification support will help improve the sanitary conditions in Uganda,” said Shim Young-Ah, director of KT&G’s ESG management office, in a statement. “As a global corporate citizen, we will continue to focus on and fulfill our social responsibilities to countries in need.”
May 3, 2024
Suppliers to Prioritize Compliance: Zhao

Photo: chaylek
Compliance is the bottom line of business, according to Everest Zhao, co-founder and CEO of the ICCPP group, a leading vaping product supplier in China.
In a conversation with U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) Director General John Dunne, reported on the UKVIA’s website, Zhao said that compliance represents a risk when mishandled but an opportunity when taken seriously.
China’s e-cigarette exports reached $11 billion in 2023, with exports increasing by 12.5 percent annually, according to customs statistics cited by the UKVIA. However, data disclosed in the annual reports of listed companies, suggests that this growth rate may not be sustainable and the industry may face more intense challenges and uncertainties in the future.
Everest said technology and innovation would continue to drive the industry as they bring together knowledge from diverse fields such as industrial design, thermodynamics and chemistry.
“Only by further improving technology, increasing basic research, and enhancing innovation can companies’ product and brand power keep pace with market demand,” he said.
As the industry faces increasingly demanding and diverse consumers, along with stricter regulations aimed at protecting public health and the environment, business operators will have to put compliance at forefront of all considerations, according to Zhao.
“By complying with regulations, companies can avoid unfair competition and market monopoly and promote the healthy development of the entire industry. Compliance operations require companies to continuously develop and produce products that comply with regulations, which helps promote technological innovation and development.
“Compliance operations require companies to strengthen the protection of minors, ensure that products do not contain elements that attract minors, strengthen supervision of product sales and actively protect the health and future of the next generation.”
May 3, 2024
Real Brands Acquires Vapor Shark Assets
Real Brands has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire Vapor Shark’s assets.
Since 2010, Vapor Shark has been a pioneer in the online B2B and B2C business, developing sales channels and e-commerce back-end pick and ship capabilities able to manage regulated product distribution. It also maintains recognizable service brand reputation in the vapor markets.
“The Vapor Shark transaction brings an established brand in the vapor consumer and retail markets to Real Brands,” said Real Brands President and CEO Thom Kidrin in a statement.
“This deal will bring new distribution channels to Real Brands that would enlarge Real Brands’ existing distribution channels. This outstanding opportunity should enable Real Brands to capture market share of the tobacco and hemp vapor industry, which is expected to grow to $29.3 billion by 2029.”
Real Brands is the result of a 2020 merger with Canadian American Standard Hemp that brought together industrial scale hemp CBD oil/isolate extraction and processing, wholesaling of CBD oils and isolate, and production and sales of numerous hemp-derived CBD consumer brands of smokable, edible and topical products.

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
May 3, 2024
‘Quebec Lobby Groups Blind to Illicit Trade’

Photo: Thorsten
Imperial Tobacco Canada is taking anti-tobacco groups to task for their silence about the boom in illicit sales following Quebec’s ban on flavored e-cigarettes.
“You cannot claim ‘Mission Accomplished’ by simply passing regulations,” said Eric Gagnon, vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs for Imperial Tobacco Canada, in a statement. “The regulations must work. And these ones don’t. Flavored vapor products are still being sold in Quebec. The problem is that they are now being sold illegally.”
Quebec banned flavored vapes Oct. 31, 2023, following years of pressure by anti-tobacco groups. According to Imperial Tobacco Cananda, the same groups refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem with the regulations and will not call on the government to fully enforce the regulations.
“It’s time that the Coalition Quebecoise pour le controle du tabac and other so-called health groups acknowledge that there is a problem with the regulations and push to fix it,” Gagnon said. “If the real objective of the regulations was to ban flavors, where are these health groups now that flavored vapor products are being sold illegally?”
Imperial Tobacco Canada noted that some of the lobby groups have ties to the provincial government and receive funding from them.
“It is time for the public to see the real intentions behind these anti-tobacco lobby groups,” said Gagnon. “They hide behind the virtue of public health, but their recent silence demonstrates that their only real objective is going after tobacco companies, even if this means pushing consumers to illegal products.”
“It is astonishing to see that Quebec’s anti-tobacco lobbyists prefer turning a blind eye to illegal flavored vaping products rather than recognizing that this is a failed policy and working with us to demand concrete enforcement measures to Minister Dube,” said Gagnon. “This says a lot about the real intention behind the individuals leading these organizations.”
May 2, 2024
Sales Down, Profit up at Turning Point Brands
Turning Point Brands announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.
For the first quarter of 2024, total consolidated net sales decreased 3.9 percent to $97.1 million compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Zig-Zag products net sales increased by 11.5 percent compared to the previous year. Stoker’s products net sales increased by 8 percent compared to 2023.
Creative Distribution Solutions net sales decreased by 44.9 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
Gross profit increased 6.8 percent to $51.9 million compared to the previous year period. Net income increased 58.1 percent to $12 million. Adjusted net income increased 29.8 percent to $15.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 21.6 percent to $25.3 million.
“We are encouraged by our first-quarter results,” said President and CEO Graham Purdy in a statement “We believe the execution of our strategy has Zig-Zag back on a sustainable growth trajectory; Stoker’s continued to grow and improved its market share; and the national launch of our FRE Modern Oral product is off to a good start.”
“We were encouraged by the outsized performance of the alternative channel in the quarter,” said Purdy. “Our ongoing efforts continue to demonstrate progress toward sustainably growing the Zig-Zag brand.”
The company is maintaining its previous expectation of full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA of $95 million to $100 million.
May 2, 2024
Vector Reports Results

Photo: tippapatt I
Vector Group has reported its first-quarter 2024 results, noting that it has had continued strong earnings growth in the tobacco segment.
In the first quarter, consolidated revenues were $324.6 million, down 2.9 percent compared to the prior-year period. Tobacco segment revenues were $324.6 million, down 2.9 percent compared to the prior year.
Tobacco segment wholesale market share declined to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent in the prior-year period, and retail market share remained at 5.8 percent, unchanged from the prior-year period.
Montego wholesale market share increased to 3.9 percent from 3.3 percent in the prior-year period, and retail market share increased to 4 percent from 3.4 percent in the prior-year period.
Reported operating income was $77.8 million, up 4.7 percent, or $3.5 million, compared to the prior-year period.
Tobacco segment operating income was $83 million, up 5.6 percent, or $4.4 million, compared to the prior-year period, primarily attributable to the continued transition of the Montego brand strategy from volume-based to income-based.
Adjusted EBITDA was $82.8 million, up 6 percent, or $4.7 million, compared to the prior year. Tobacco adjusted EBITDA was $84.4 million, up 5.5 percent, or $4.4 million, compared to the previous year.
“Vector Group delivered strong performance in the first quarter, driven by continued growth of our Montego brand,” said Howard M. Lorber, president and CEO of Vector Group, in a statement. “Our proven ability to increase Montego’s market share and profitability underscores the effectiveness of our brand strategy, market analysis, broad-based distribution and excellent retail execution. We remain confident in our ability to continue driving sustainable growth and creating long-term value for our stockholders.”
May 2, 2024
White House Asked to Reclassify Marijuana
Vapor Voice Archives
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration plans to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, which could have far-reaching implications for American drug policy.
The proposed measure, which is yet to be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, aims to acknowledge the medical benefits of using cannabis and recognize the fact that it is less prone to abuse in comparison to some of the most dangerous drugs in the country and reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug.
However, it does not seek to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.
Five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive regulatory review confirmed the agency’s move to the AP on Tuesday. The move clears the last significant regulatory hurdle before the agency’s biggest policy change in more than 50 years can take effect.
According to the DEA, the following are examples of Schedule I drugs:

Heroin
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
Cannabis
Methamphetamine
Methaqualone (Quaalude)
Peyote
According to the National Institute for Health, California became the first State to make it illegal to possess cannabis. In the 1930s, the then U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics warned of the increasing abuse of cannabis, and by 1937, 23 States had criminalized possession.
By 1970, the Controlled Substances Act passed, and the Federal government categorized marijuana as a Schedule I substance.
The planned DEA rule change followed an August 2023 recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that DEA reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. Any change to the status of marijuana via the DEA rulemaking process would not take effect immediately.
May 2, 2024
Japan Tobacco to Keep Russian Business

Masamichi Terabatake (Photo: JTI)
Japan Tobacco CEO Masamichi Terabatake said the company will keep its Russian business to satisfy investors following a supply chain reshape to comply with sanctions, reports the Financial Times.
According to the paper, JT is routing some business through Turkiye and has moved key personnel to Hong Kong. JT had originally said it would consider selling its Russian business following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia accounted for 20 percent of JT’s overall profits, according to Terabatake.
“If I said, for example, that we are going to quit the business, investors may face the risk of losses,” said Terabatake. “If worse comes to worst, there is even the risk of a shareholder lawsuit if we were to discontinue a business that we are able to continue.”
JT has more than 4,000 employees and four factories in Russia, one of the largest foreign companies left in the country. In 2023, JT’s overall profits were ¥482 billion ($3 billion).
“There are various things we need to be careful of from sanctions—what kind of people can be involved or not in decisionmaking, excluding people from unfriendly countries for Russia’s management … to putting people unrelated to sanctions in places such as Hong Kong,” said Terabatake on JT’s new structure following wide-ranging sanctions on Russia. “But otherwise, it’s business as usual.”
“We are making various efforts to ensure a sort of a ringfence by sending things from Turkiye, for example, since there are countries that cannot do trade with Russia,” he said.
Following the sanctions, many companies and investors left Russia. However, some have opted to stay, including Philip Morris International.
Japan has also implemented sanctions on Russia.
“It’s true that initially there was a question about reputation in regard to continuing our business, but more recently, it’s less of an issue,” said Terabatake. “There are fewer occasions where people are demanding to know why JT is continuing its business [in Russia].”
JT has not yet answered investors about how profits will get out of Russia and back to shareholders; to date, no dividends have been paid by the Russian entity from its 2022 and 2023 financial results.
Terabatake said he remains prepared to split off or sell the Russian unit “in the worst-case scenario,” but he does not believe it will be necessary under the current sanctions regime.
May 1, 2024
Support for Filter Ban at Pollution Summit

Photo: Gagula
Government delegations expressed support for a ban on cigarette filters during the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to develop an international legally binding treaty on ending plastic pollution, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
During the weeklong conference, which adjourned April 29, negotiators sought to regulate plastic products according to their utility and environmental harm, with nonessential, polluting plastics slated for complete bans.
At the INC-4 negotiations, several countries proposed banning cigarette filters, including Peru, Panama and Switzerland. The World Health Organization also made a joint statement with the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to call for a cigarette filter and other single-use tobacco plastic product waste ban. Their joint statement called on the INC to acknowledge a WHO FCTC COP10 decision on the environmental impact of tobacco.
The list of plastics to be banned will be finalized at INC-5 starting Nov. 25, 2024, in Busan, Republic of Korea.
Roughly 4.5 trillion used filters, or cigarette butts, are tossed into the environment each year, according to ASH. Filters are made of cellulose acetate that breaks down into microplastics and leaches toxins and carcinogens into terrestrial and aquatic environments.
“It’s essential to remember that we don’t need industry permission to build a healthy environment, free from trillions of cigarette butts and other harmful plastics. We must demand our right to a healthy environment, and governments have a duty, both ethical and legal, to provide it,” said ASH. Executive Director Laurent Huber in a statement. “The right to a healthy environment has been recognized by the U.N. General Assembly. Banning cigarette filters is a step in the right direction to protecting those and many other essential human rights.”
Recycling cigarette filters is not a viable solution, according to ASH. Even if a substantial fraction of cigarette butts could be collected, there is no process for removing the toxins, recycling the plastic or turning the recycled plastic into other products.
May 1, 2024