Swedish Match’s Scandinavian shipment volumes of snus during the first quarter to the end of March, at 61.5 million cans, were up by about nine percent on those of the first quarter of last year, 56.5 million.
At the same time, the company’s shipment volume of moist snuff in the US, at 34.0 million cans, was down by about two percent from 34.6 million.
And its volumes of snus and nicotine pouches outside Scandinavia were up by 95 percent to 4.8 million cans.
In announcing its first-quarter results, SM said that it had accounted for a 64.1 percent share of Sweden’s snus market during the first quarter of this year, down 1.7 percentage points from that of the first quarter of 2017.
Its share of Sweden’s premium snus sector had fallen by 2.7 percentage points to 89.3 percent; its share of Sweden’s value snus sector had fallen by 1.6 percentage points to 35.2 percent; and its share of Norway’s snus market had fallen by 0.1 of a percentage point to 52.2 percent.
Meanwhile, in the US, SM’s cigar shipment volume during the first quarter, at 429 million, was increased by about eight percent on that of the first quarter of 2017, 398 million. And its chewing tobacco volume (excluding contract manufacturing volumes) during the first quarter, at 1,568,000 pounds, was down by about six percent on that of the first quarter of 2017, 1,663,000 pounds.
SM’s worldwide shipment volumes of matches during the first quarter, at 15.8 billion sticks, were down by about 11 percent on those of the first quarter of 2017, 17.7 billion.
And its worldwide shipment volumes of lighters, at 73.1 million, were down by about 23 percent from 95.3 million.
Sales at SM during the first quarter, at SEK2,941 million, were increased by about four percent on the restated sales of the first quarter of 2017, SEK2,833 million.
Operating profit from product segments (excluding other operations and larger one-off items) increased by six percent, from SEK1,021 million (restated) to SEK1,079 million.
Operating profit was down by 15 percent, from SEK1,235 million (restated) to SEK1,047 million.
In announcing the results, CEO Lars Dahlgren (pictured) said the first quarter had represented a strong start to the year.
“In local currencies, sales increased by 10 percent and operating profit from product segments, excluding larger one-time items, increased by 11 percent.
“While our financial results were favorably influenced by calendar and shipment timing effects, I am pleased with our underlying performance for the quarter,” he said.
Category: Other Tobacco Products
Snus sales increased
Shisha popular with young
Shisha has become part of Zimbabwe’s popular culture with young people smoking it at many of the country’s trendier clubs and bars, according to a story in The Zimbabwe Daily.
Establishments such as Bulawayo’s Backroom Shisha Lounge and Vintage Shisha Bar draw scores of young people on weekends and week nights.
For about US$10, a hookah can be hired and shared among friends, while those who prefer their own have to pay between US$60 and US$200 depending on the size, brand and sophistication of the package.
The Daily’s story said that many people who did not smoke cigarettes had hopped onto the shisha bandwagon, assuming that the latter was a less-risky habit than was the former.
But shisha was not less risky, the Daily warned. It came with health risks associated with exposure to toxic chemicals and infectious diseases, such as oral herpes, tuberculosis, hepatitis and influenza, from sharing pipes.
“People who are sharing shisha pipes are at risk because they are exposed to droplet transmissions and other infections that spread through saliva,” the family health director at the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr. Bernard Madzima, was quoted as saying during an interview with the Sunday Mail.
Madzima added that because the pipes were being used by many people; there was a need to sterilize them.
Meanwhile, the Daily said that shisha users were at risk also from the same problems that affected cigarette smokers: heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases and problems during pregnancy.
Despite the fact that most containers of shisha tobacco carried warnings about how smoking damaged the lungs and how it could harm those nearby, some establishments, which did not allow cigarette smoking indoors, allowed shisha smoking indoors.
Lovemore Mukuring of the Cancer Society of Zimbabwe was quoted as saying that as long as tobacco was involved, there were bound to be serious health implications.
“It should be noted that lung cancer cases that are related to tobacco smoking are on the rise so there is a strong need to advocate for the reduction of smoking,” said Mukuring.Marlboro US share down
PM USA’s domestic cigarette shipment volume during the three months to the end of March, at 27,552 million, was down by 4.2 percent on that of the first quarter of 2017, 28,727 million.
In reporting its first-quarter results, Altria – of which PM USA is its cigarette division – said that the fall in cigarette shipments was driven primarily by the industry’s rate of decline and retail share declines, partially offset by trade inventory movements.
Within PM USA’s total shipments, Marlboro volume was down by 4.2 percent to 23,653 million, while the volume of the company’s other premium brands fell by 2.8 percent to 1,409 million. Sales of discount brands fell by 4.7 percent to 2,460 million.
PM USA’s cigarette market share during the three months to the end of March, at 50.3 percent, was down by 0.7 of a percentage point on that of the first quarter of 2017.
Marlboro’s share fell by 0.5 of a percentage point to 43.2 percent, while the share of the company’s other premium brands fell by 0.1 of a percentage point to 2.6 percent. The share of PM USA’s discount brands fell by 0.1 of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent.
Altria’s first quarter results, reported yesterday, included also those of Middleton and USSTC.
Middleton’s domestic cigar shipment volume during the three months to the end of March, at 378 million, was up by 3.0 percent on that of the first quarter of 2017, 367 million. Shipment volume of the company’s Black & Mild brand was increased by 3.3 percent to 375 million, while that of its other brands fell by 25 percent from four million to three million.
USSTC’s domestic market shipment volume of smokeless products during the three months to the end of March, at 195.7 million cans and packs, was down by 0.1 percent on that of the first quarter of 2017, 198.5 million.
Copenhagen’s shipment volume fell by 0.1 percent to 124.4 million, and Skoal’s volume was down by 1.1 percent to 55.0 million. The shipment volume of other brands increased by 3.8 percent to 16.3 million.
USSTC did not provide adjusted shipment volume comparisons because of the unusual effects caused by a 2017 recall. But it said that the smokeless industry volume had declined by an estimated one percent during the past six months.
USSTC’s retail market share during the three months to the end of March, at 53.8 percent, was up by 0.1 of a percentage point from that of the first quarter of 2017.
Copenhagen’s market share increased by 1.1 percentage points to 34.3 percent, while Skoal’s share fell by 1.2 percentage points to 16.2 percent. Other brands’ market share increased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 3.3 percent.
“Altria is off to a fast start to the strong year of EPS growth to which we’ve guided, with adjusted diluted EPS growth of 30.1 percent in the first quarter of 2018,” said Marty Barrington, Altria’s chairman, CEO and president.
“In addition, Altria continued to reward shareholders by paying out nearly $1.3 billion in dividends, announcing an out-of-cycle dividend increase of 6.1 percent and repurchasing approximately $513 million in shares.
“Within the reporting segments, income performance reflects the timing of previously announced investments for the long-term strength of the business.
“We continue to expect full year adjusted diluted EPS growth of 15 percent to 19 percent.”
Meanwhile, Altria said that in pursuit of its ambition to be the US leader in ‘authorized, non-combustible, reduced-risk products’, USSTC had submitted a modified risk tobacco product application (MRTPA) to the US Food and Drug Administration for Copenhagen Snuff Fine Cut.
In addition, Altria had grown Nu Mark volume by about 30 percent and expanded the distribution of MarkTen Elite, a pod-based closed system product, to more than 6,000 retail stores.
And PM USA had participated in Philip Morris International’s presentation to the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee about the IQOS MRTPA. PM USA’s initial lead market plans for IQOS were ready to deploy upon FDA authorization.FDA’s aptitude questioned
An opinion piece published in The Hill poses and answers the question: How much does the US Food and Drug Administration do to promote public health?
Lindsey Stroud, a state government relations manager at The Heartland Institute, a non-profit group aimed at promoting limited government, describes how, in recent years, the FDA has become increasingly more involved in ‘protecting the public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security’ of numerous products, including prescription medications, tobacco, and food and cosmetic products.
‘In many cases, the agency has proven itself to be exceptionally biased against harm reduction devices and services, while at other times, FDA has failed to protect the public from potentially dangerous substances,’ Stroud writes.
‘Such is the case with OxyContin, one of the most important contributors to America’s current opioid epidemic.
‘In countless instances, FDA has been too stringent and inflexible. In others, it has seemingly been ignorant of the dangers of particular drugs, leading many (this writer included) to wonder: Does FDA have any clue what it’s doing?’
Later in her piece, Stroud says that it is important to note that, while the FDA has shown it is willing to allow powerful prescription painkillers to become one of the few relief methods available for chronic pain, it has at the same time applied a narrow standard to other products that could save lives.
‘For instance, FDA has yet to allow many e-cigarette, heat-not-burn, and snus products to be marketed as less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes – even though ample evidence shows they are,’ she writes.
Stroud’s piece is at: http://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/384407-how-much-does-the-fda-really-do-to-promote-public-health.Snus ban ‘valid’
The smokers’ lobby group Forest has criticized the opinion of a leading advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) after he deemed the EU ban on the sale of snus to be “valid”.
According to the ECJ’s Advocate General, Saugmandsgaard Øe, the EU legislature “did not exceed the limits of its discretion in concluding that lifting the prohibition on the placing on the market of tobacco for oral use could result in an overall increase in the harmful effects of tobacco within the EU”.
Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, said that maintaining an EU-wide ban on snus discriminated against adults who were looking for a safer means of consuming nicotine.
“Tobacco is legal and adults should have the right to purchase a range of products, some of which are less harmful than others,” he said.
“The evidence suggests that snus is not risk free but it’s significantly safer than combustible cigarettes.
“To deny consumers the choice of switching to an alternative, reduced-risk product defies logic or common sense.”
Snus is banned in all EU member states except Sweden, and, according to a report in The Local, snus producer Swedish Match failed in a 2004 attempt to challenge the rules restricting sales and exports of the product. It had since launched a challenge against UK laws preventing the sale of tobacco for oral use, which are in line with the EU’s 2014 Tobacco Products Directive, arguing that the EU legislature had failed since the earlier ruling to ‘take into account development in scientific knowledge’. The High Court of Justice for England and Wales subsequently asked the ECJ to judge whether the prohibition of the product was valid.
In a note posted on its website, Swedish Match said that though the Advocate General had found that the use of snus was less hazardous than smoking cigarettes, he did not recommend the ECJ to find the EU snus ban invalid.
‘In the opinion, the Advocate General gives the EU legislature a very broad discretion in areas which involve political, economic and social choices,’ the note said. ‘He states that in his opinion it is not the task of the Court to assess the scientific evidence submitted in the case but rather recommends that the Court leave such assessments to the EU legislature.’
“We are disappointed with the opinion and hope that the Court will come to a different conclusion in its final ruling,” Marie-Louise Heiman, general counsel at Swedish Match, was quoted as saying. “The reasoning behind the Advocate General’s opinion would severely limit the Court’s assessment of EU legislation. With this reasoning, almost any product could be banned in the EU without a meaningful judicial review.”
The final ruling is expected toward the end of the second quarter or in the third quarter of this year.US suffering flavor blur
The findings of two recently-published studies on the emergence of hookah use in the US indicate that public health officials might need to consider broadening their tobacco prevention efforts beyond traditional cigarettes, according to a story by David J. Hill of the University of Buffalo, US, published on medicalxpress.com.
“Taken together, the results from these two studies underscore the important role hookah has played in the tobacco product landscape,” Jessica Kulak, the lead author on both papers, was quoted as saying. Kulak, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Primary Care Research Institute of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo.
Kulak published both papers as part of her dissertation through collaborations with colleagues at the Rutgers University School of Public Health and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The first study, published in March in the American Journal of Health Behavior, examined patterns and trends of hookah use among public high school students in New Jersey.
The findings were said to have shown significant increases in hookah use across three indicators – those who had ever used hookah, those who were currently using hookah and those who smoked hookah frequently.
Overall, 23.6 percent of New Jersey high school students were found to have ever used hookah in 2014, significantly higher than the nearly 18 percent who reported ever using it in 2008, Kulak and her colleagues reported.
In 2014, past 30-day hookah use (11.8 percent) was said to be as high as e-cigarette use (12.1 percent) and higher than other-tobacco-product use. Among all high school students, frequent hookah use increased from 1.6 percent in 2008 to 2.9 percent six years later.
Kulak and her colleagues cited a variety of factors that might be contributing to the popularity of hookah among teens. For example, hookah tobacco was taxed at a lower rate than were cigarettes, and it was sold in a variety of flavors, many of which had been banned in cigarettes.
Many hookah users believed also that it was not as harmful as other tobacco products.
Kulak’s second dissertation-based paper, also published in March in Substance Use & Misuse, looked at hookah’s role in nicotine product initiation among college students.
For this study, Kulak surveyed 832 college students in Western and Central New York. Among study participants who reported having used a nicotine product at some point, 25 percent said hookah was the first product they had tried. Only combustible cigarettes (39.5 percent) were reported more frequently.
Among students who ever smoked cigarettes, most reported these as their introductory product. Nearly half of the students who had never smoked cigarettes reported that hookah was the first tobacco product they smoked.
This study suggested also that hookah users were less likely than were combustible-cigarette smokers to use multiple tobacco products – such as combustible cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco.
Based on the findings of the two studies, Kulak said public health agencies might need to consider revising the surveys and other data collection instruments they used to account more accurately for hookah use.
In addition, she said, there were opportunities for further regulation by the US Food and Drug Administration, especially banning flavors in hookah tobacco.
The full story is at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-04-hookah-critical-role-tobacco-product.htmlFilm festival deadline near
The organizers of the Global Forum on Nicotine’s (GFN) first film festival have announced that the deadline for the submission of entries is April 16.
The festival, which is focused on tobacco harm reduction, will run alongside the GFN’s fifth annual conference, GFN18.
Entries must be submitted to filmfest@gfn.net.co with either a secure Vimeo or YouTube link.
The festival is being organised in association with Attention Era Media, the makers of A Billion Lives, which was shown at a previous GFN event.
Announcing the festival earlier this year, Aaron Biebert, the director of A Billion Lives, who will curate the festival, said that reversing propaganda and fear tactics would take more than a single movie. “It will take a community of educators, leaders, and influencers who are educated and excited,” he said. “A film festival focused on tobacco harm reduction will make a huge impact by inspiring filmmakers to take up the cause and help get the truth in front of the public. I am delighted to be leading this effort and believe that together we can make a difference.”
The festival will feature films up to 15 minutes long.
The makers of the films chosen for inclusion will be invited to attend GFN18 and the organisers hope to have short Q&A sessions with them following the screenings, which will take place within the conference venue and will be open to everyone attending the conference.
The conference is scheduled to be held at the Marriott Hotel, Warsaw, Poland, on June 14-16.
The festival will take place on June 15 and 16, with each of the entries being eligible for the ‘Best Picture’ award, to be decided by a jury, chaired by Biebert, who will also present the award during the closing session of the GFN.Oliver Twist changing hands
Swedish Match (SM) said on Friday that it was acquiring the House of Oliver Twist, a privately held Danish smokeless tobacco company, headquartered in Odense, Denmark.
‘House of Oliver Twist (HoOT) has over 200 years of history and is Denmark’s oldest independent tobacco manufacturer,’ SM said in a note posted on its website.
‘The company develops, produces and sells chewing tobacco bits made of processed tobacco strands under the brand Oliver Twist.
‘The company’s main markets are in Scandinavia and certain other EU countries.
‘The company has 33 employees and annual revenues amount to approximately DKK60 million.’
The sale is expected to be completed on April 3.
“Oliver Twist is a good complement to our smokeless portfolio and will provide increased depth to our chewing tobacco offerings, especially in Europe,” said Lars Dahlgren (pictured), SM’s president.
Meanwhile, Michael Drest Nielsen, the present owner of HoOT was quoted as saying that it had been important for his company to find a buyer that shared the HoOT’s vision for smokeless tobacco. “With their resources, competence and knowledge within smokeless tobacco, Swedish Match will give Oliver Twist better opportunities to develop and grow.”
Details of the purchase price have not been disclosed.Tobacco ≠ cigarettes
NZ Smokeless Tobacco Co (NZSTC) has said it is appalled by the lack of ideas being put forward by the New Zealand government to fast track the race for ‘Smoke-free 2025’.
“Our organisation has approached both health ministers regarding Nationals New Pathway to Smokeless Alternatives and Nicotine Delivery Products and their replies were, ‘I am still considering the proposals from the previous government’ which quite frankly is not good enough!,” said Miles Illemann, co-founder of NZSTC.
In a press note, NZSTC acknowledged that New Zealand was suffering a crime wave underpinned by the cigarette black market, but, it added, having organizations such as Action on Smoking and Health and British American Tobacco arguing over spilt milk was not helping.
‘We need change and that’s what New Zealanders want, like the NZDF [New Zealand Defence Force] going smoke-free in 2020 …,’ the note said.
‘NZSTC wants to clear up a few things when talking about tobacco. Firstly, it is cigarettes causing the deaths. Yes, they are tobacco, but it is the way … [in] which it is consumed that is the problem. If we look at the “Swedish Experience” regarding oral tobacco like snus, studies show that it is the most effective way to quit smoking with no risk of cancer. Therefore, cigarettes should be the word of choice used to attack the problem because if we are wanting this government to change, we need to remove the stigma that cigarettes have on tobacco.
‘If we look at Norway for example, we see that by snus being readily available to smokers, the ability to change the statistics around to meet our goals in 2025 is quite possible. It’s not going to happen from plain packaging or any other way except for healthy alternatives to nicotine through a harm reduction strategy.
‘Let’s remember that we are living in a democracy, people have the freedom of choice. We shouldn’t be thinking about taking things away from the people but giving them more healthy options like we have seen in the past with e-cigarettes.’Modified risk application
Altria said on Tuesday that its smokeless tobacco business, US Smokeless Tobacco Company, had submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration a Modified Risk Tobacco Product application for its Copenhagen® Snuff Fine Cut moist smokeless tobacco product.
‘Altria aspires to be the US leader in authorized, non-combustible, reduced-risk products,’ the company said in a note posted on its website.
‘This action furthers Altria’s plan for submitting reduced-harm product applications with the FDA on a range of non-combustible tobacco products.
‘FDA will now undertake an administrative review to determine whether to accept the application for substantive review.’
