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  • Connecticut Votes to Nearly Triple Budget in Tobacco Fight

    Connecticut Votes to Nearly Triple Budget in Tobacco Fight

    Connecticut’s Public Health Committee approved legislation to put $32 million into the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund for smoking cessation, a $20 million increase over the proposed budget from Gov. Ned Lamont. In 2023, the state invested $12 million into the program but it was suspended in 2024.

    The money to fund this program comes from the Tobacco Master Settlement agreement. Chris Collibee, budget spokesman for the Lamont administration, said the state will receive $109.6 million from the settlement in 2025, and $108.1 million in 2026. He also said each year $200,000 of the settlement money goes to the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Revenue Services to cover the costs of tobacco enforcement, with the rest going to the General Fund.

    The Connecticut Department of Public Health found that in 2023, 12.7% of high school students used a form of tobacco, down from 18.8% in 2022.

  • JT Not Adjusting Russian Business

    JT Not Adjusting Russian Business

    In a statement issued to This Week in Asia, a Japan Tobacco (JT) official said: “As announced in early 2022, the JT Group has suspended all new investments and marketing activities in Russia. At present, the group continues its manufacturing and sales operations in the country in full compliance with all applicable regulations, including but not limited to economic sanctions and export controls. We continue to closely monitor legislative developments as well as the situation on the ground and review our options.”

    JT announcing that it was not pulling out of the lucrative Russian market makes news as the Ukrainian government continues its efforts to get some of the world’s largest companies to exit its combative neighbor. A Ukrainian report said JT contributed $182.3 million in taxes to the Russian government in 2023, fourth among taxpaying companies behind only Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International ($491 million), China’s Chery Automobile, and Philip Morris, the world’s leading tobacco company.

    International companies that did not exit the Russian market immediately after the invasion of Ukraine began but later pulled out from bad press include Heineken, Citigroup, and Kraft-Heinz.

    JT, which is still one-third owned by the government, faces minimal criticism in Japanese media and as a result, the public – which is strongly supportive of Ukraine – is offering few objections.

    “There has been no comment from the government, no pushback from the public, and nothing in the media,” said James Brown, a professor of international relations at the Tokyo campus of Temple University who specializes in Russian affairs. “So the sense at [JT] headquarters appears to be ‘why should we walk away from it?’

    “The position in Japan was that if being there was not explicitly sanctioned, then it was fine to carry on. And that meant it was not a problem for the company, which was open about what it was doing.”

    In May 2024, Japan Tobacco CEO Masamichi Terabatake made that stance clear when he told the Financial Times that the company’s supply chains had been adjusted to meet international sanctions and that it would remain active in Russia to protect investors’ interests.

    “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,” he said.

  • Foreign Company Investing $8.2 Million for Tobacco Processing Machinery in Bangladesh

    Foreign Company Investing $8.2 Million for Tobacco Processing Machinery in Bangladesh

    Lee’s Tobacco Machinery Company Limited signed an agreement yesterday (February 3) to invest $8.32 million into the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) to manufacture tobacco processing machinery. According to a press release, the investment from the UAE- and Singapore-owned company is expected to create 92 jobs for Bangladeshi nationals.

    Li Meng, chairman of Lee’s Tobacco Machinery, emphasized his commitment to transferring technical expertise to local workers, thereby building a skilled workforce in machinery manufacturing.

    “This milestone underscores our commitment to diversifying export-oriented industries,” Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, executive chairman of Bepza said. “We anticipate further investments in machinery production, which will contribute to the broader industrial landscape of Bangladesh.”

  • Habanos Introduces Final Limited Edition of 2024

    Habanos Introduces Final Limited Edition of 2024

    Habanos S.A introduced its Ramon Allones Absolutos last night (February 3), the third and final of its Edición Limitada of 2024.  José María López Inchaurbe, vice president of development for Cuban monopoly, presented the new offering at a gala in Basel. Called Nuevos in Cuban cigar factories, the Ramon Allones Absolutos is a large format cigar that measures 6 3/8 inches by 49 ring gauge, and comes in a unique, 20-count box designed especially for this release.

    “The Edición Limitada program was launched in 2000 and features Cuban cigars produced in limited runs and rolled in unusual sizes,” Gregory Mottola wrote for Cigar Aficionado. “The wrappers are also considerably darker than those found on Cuba’s regular-production smokes.

    “For the first 15 or 16 years of the program, Edición Limitadas were typically announced at the Habanos Festival in the early part of the year and then released by the fourth quarter. No more. Timetables have changed drastically and Habanos often struggles to get its cigars out on time.”

    The Ramon Allones Absolutos is the third and last Edición Limitada for 2024, following the Trinidad Cabildos and the H. Upmann Magnum Finite. There’s no official release date yet, but according to Intertabak A.G., Switzerland’s Habanos distributor, the cigar is set to retail for 45 Swiss francs each (about $50), or 900 Swiss francs per box ($990). It will be trickled into other global markets at unspecified times throughout the year.

  • Kretek Splash Draws Interest at TPE

    Kretek Splash Draws Interest at TPE

    One of the products that gained significant interest at TPE 2025 in Las Vegas last week was the Splash menthol-filtered smokes that were launched at the end of 2024 by Kretek International. The tobacco-free products are being introduced as a legal alternative in restricted markets.

    “We think we’ve come as close as you can get with a nicotine-free smoke to the taste and satisfaction of current tobacco menthols,” said Kretek president Sean Cassar. “Our combined effort with PT Djarum has been highly focused on the taste and feeling that menthol smokers told us they expect.”

    Kretek is using the first six months of 2025 to measure smoker appeal in restricted markets such as California and Massachusetts to show retailers the benefits of legal nicotine-free menthols that are free of federal excise tax.

    “We want customers’ expectations to be based on realistic sales and repeat purchase levels after the FDA ban,” explained Kretek Sales & Marketing Sr. VP Albert Jose. “Given menthol smokers’ level of taste-driven loyalty, we weren’t surprised that more than half the trial smokers said they’d try Splash after their brands were removed from the shelf. The surprise was how many of them discovered during the smoking trials that some of their nicotine buzz was actually menthol’s neuro-calming effect”

    Splash menthol-filtered smokes come in nicotine-free Classic and Smooth styles, available to all retail channels in 20-pack king-size flip-top boxes, delivered in 10-pack cartons. Kretek makes no health claims and has placed a tar and carbon monoxide warning on all Splash packs and cartons. Splash menthols are made in Indonesia by PT Djarum, whose cigarettes and cigars have been imported and sold in the U.S. exclusively through Kretek International Inc. since 1983.

  • Cut Rag Processors to Open Factory in Harare

    Cut Rag Processors to Open Factory in Harare

    Photo: Screaghin

    Cut Rag Processors is poised to open a USD120 million tobacco factory in Harare, reports The Herald.

    According to Managing Director Caillin Mellet, the company is currently training personnel.

    “Our aim for this factory is not only for ourselves in terms of value addition to the economy but also for the people who work for us in terms of upscaling and teaching the people we have how to operate the world-class high-technological machinery,” he was quoted as saying.

    The construction of the factory dovetails with Zimbabwe’s goal to extract more value from its tobacco industry.

    Under the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, the government aims to create a $5 billion industry by 2025.

    In addition to moving beyond exports of processed tobacco into value-added activities such as cigarette manufacturing, the plan seeks to boost production of alternative crops and increase their contribution to farmers’ income by 25 percent.

    “This state-of-the-art factory I have just toured represents an important milestone in our efforts […] to grow and modernize Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry,” said Vice President Constantino Chiwenga during a pre-commissioning tour of the facility on July 10.

    “Tobacco has long been a crucial export crop and economic driver for our nation. Through strategic investments in infrastructure technology and skills development, government is accelerating the transformation of Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry.”

  • Greenbutts Qualifies on Next-Gen Machinery

    Greenbutts Qualifies on Next-Gen Machinery

    Photo: Greenbutts

    Greenbutts has successfully completed filter conversion qualification with Aiger Group.

    Tadas Lisauskas

    “Our consistent innovation and unique intellectual property related to our biodegradable filter technology empower our multinational partners to achieve their plastic reduction objectives without compromising the sensory experience that smokers expect,” said Greenbutts CEO Tadas Lisauskas in a statement.

    “Collaborating with Aiger, we envision significant success in the European market, where changing environmental regulations necessitate the adoption of plastic-free alternatives.”

    “More than 10 years ago, we recognized Greenbutts’ innovation and creativity. We shared their vision, and since that time, we have developed state-of-the-art machinery for their products,” said Courtland MacDuff, executive board member and director at Aiger Engineering.

    “Aiger took steps early on to engineer new machines to produce high-quality filter rods using natural, nonplastic materials. The task was not only to modernize the process but to do it better and differently. Aiger’s Bio-FleX production line hit the targets and stands today as the most advanced and versatile filter maker in this new segment.”