Category: People

  • AOI spreads its wings

    AOI spreads its wings

    Pieter Sikkel

    As part of its One Tomorrow strategy, Alliance One International is continuing to make measured investments in industrial hemp, e-liquids and legal Canadian cannabis business lines as the company builds its capabilities to position them for further success in evolving regulatory and consumer environments, said president and CEO Pieter Sikkel in announcing AOI’s first quarter results.

    ‘Our industrial hemp joint venture, Criticality, LLC, (Criticality) is taking active steps to become a leader in the production of cannabidiol hemp oil (CBD) and related consumer products,’ Sikkel said. ‘We look forward to receiving and processing hemp at Criticality’s facility in North Carolina this fall.

    ‘Our e-liquids investments continue to demonstrate positive momentum. Last month, Fontem Ventures introduced Salt of the Earth, an additional product line that is a direct result of the relationship with our Purilum joint venture and utilizes Purilum’s premium nicotine salt e-liquids.

    ‘As October 17, 2018, the effective date for legalization of recreational cannabis use in Canada, draws closer, our Canadian cannabis subsidiaries are rapidly gearing up to meet expected consumer demand beyond the current legal medicinal market. As previously announced, construction work on an additional 310,000 square feet of greenhouse and warehouse space is underway as FIGR, our wholly owned indirect Canadian subsidiary, works toward its total goal of over one million square feet of production in that market.’

    Sikkel said that the fiscal year had got off to a strong start and that AOI was building positive momentum in its leaf business and making continued progress on its One Tomorrow transformation initiative announced earlier this year.

    He said that strong operating plans had been put in place, including ‘measured inventory reductions’.

    ‘We continue to optimize our global footprint and have taken steps to capitalize on opportunities in regional markets, further positioning our leaf business to meet the evolving needs of tobacco product manufacturers…

    ‘The investments we have made in agronomy services and our track-and-trace technology remain an integral component of all aspects of our business.

    ‘As our contracted farmer base continues to increase the yields of their non-tobacco crops, we are actively working to build the value-added processes that will support the diversification of their incomes.

    ‘By keeping the farmer at the center of everything we do, we are able to confidently provide customers across all of our business lines with sustainable and traceable agricultural products, ingredients and services.’

    Alliance reported total sales and other operating revenues increased by 5.1 percent to $291.0 million as, it said, crops in South America and other origins returned to a more normalized cycle when compared to that of the same period of the previous fiscal year.
    Gross profit increased by 44.8 percent to $41.4 million, and gross profit as a percentage of sales was 14.2 percent this year, up from 10.3 percent.

    Operating income increased by $5.3 million to $4.7 million.

    Net loss attributable to Alliance One International, Inc. for the quarter improved to $0.8 million, compared with $32.5 million last year, and adjusted EBITDA improved by 93.7 percent to $19.4 million.

  • Spain to host THR summit

    Spain to host THR summit

    What is being billed as Spain’s first tobacco harm reduction scientific congress is due to be held in Barcelona, on September 19.
    The congress, which already has 13 expert speakers lined up, is being organized by
    ANESVAP (the Spanish Association of Users of Personal Vaporisers) and MOVE (the Medical Organization Supporting Vaping and Electronic Cigarettes).
    In a press note, these organizations said they had been fighting hard during the past years to present the latest scientific evidence on the use of personal vaporisers to health and medical professionals in Spain, and to the wider society.
    Some had listened, they said, and a few had accepted that tobacco harm reduction (THR) policies could be helpful in respect of public health.
    Nevertheless, those supporting THR in Spain were still very few.
    ANESVAP and MOVE said that they were therefore organising the first ever conference on THR in Spain.
    Presentations from leading international experts in the field, would provide evidence about the place of THR in reducing smoking and its consequences, they added.
    Registration for the Tobacco Harm Reduction Summit Spain is available at: http://thrsummitspain.org/.

  • Taxing times for vaping

    Taxing times for vaping

    UK vapers could be hit with excise tax in this autumn’s budget, according to a story by Lynn Davidson for The Sun.
    Davidson quoted Whitehall sources as saying that so-called ‘sin taxes’ would be increased in this autumn’s Budget.
    And one was said to have told the Sun that vapers were likely to be hit because they were not taxed at all [outside of VAT].
    Pro-vaping activists have rallied round to point out that vaping is not a sin, though this is unlikely to cut much ice because the Chancellor won’t dress it up that way and, anyway, nor is driving a car but fuel is the subject of excise.
    What might deter the Chancellor is the fact that the Government is aware that vaping has saved the National Health Service (NHS) billions of pounds and could save it more. As part of making its decision, his team will no doubt calculate whether the reduction in NHS savings caused by smokers being put off switching to vaping by the tax-induced increase in electronic-cigarette prices would be more than offset by the additional tax revenue. The former, of course, is merely a calculation, while the latter is cash in hand.
    Still, the NHS savings figures seem impressive. The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) pointed out that, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) figures, of the nearly three million UK vapers, more than half had given up smoking, and 97 percent were either smokers or ex-smokers.
    It said that the value of health gains associated with a single successful quit attempt was £74,000 according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and therefore, the ASH figures suggested that vaping had already saved the UK in the region of £111 billion.
    And it could save more, though it had to be borne in mind that the principal reason for people switching to vaping from smoking was that vaping was substantially cheaper.

  • Quitting technically

    Quitting technically

    Researchers in the US are using wearable sensor technology to develop an automatic alert system to help people quit smoking, according to a story at medicalxpress.com.
    The smart-phone app, initially limited to android-based operating systems, automatically texts 20- to 120-second video messages to smokers when sensors detect specific arm and body motions associated with smoking.
    Recently, the story said, wearable technology had gained popularity in the fight against addiction.
    But, it added, the mobile alert system researchers at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, were testing might be the first that combined:

    • ‘an existing online platform with mindfulness training and a personalized plan for quitting;
    • ‘two armband sensors to detect smoking motions, a technology that demonstrated more than 98-percent accuracy in differentiating “lighting up” from other similar motions. (that compares to 72-percent accuracy in systems using a single armband);
    • ‘and a personalized text-messaging service that reminds the user of either their own plan to quit, or sends video messages that stress the health and financial benefits of quitting.’
  • 'Brief' auction 'disruption'

    'Brief' auction 'disruption'

    After a ‘brief disruption’ last week, flue-cured tobacco auctions had resumed in Andhra Pradesh, India, according to a story in the Hindu Times relayed by the TMA.
    It was not stated how long the brief disruption lasted nor what had cause it.
    It could, for instance, have been down to a technical problem, but, earlier in the year, growers, worried at the slow pace of sales, called on the Chief Minister to hold a meeting with traders.
    And the disruption could have been about prices, because that has happened before. Overall, prices are said to be two percent above what they were last year, while prices in the West Godavari district are down.
    According to Tobacco Board figures, growers have this year sold 85 million kg of flue-cured at an average price of Rs134.66 (US$1.96) per kg.
    At the same point of last year’s sales, growers had sold 95 million kg at an average price of Rs132.00 (US$ 1.92) per kg.
    According to the Times, high-grade leaf produced in the northern light soils region of West Godavari is currently being sold at an average price of Rs149 per kg (US$ 2.17) compared with Rs151 (US$ 2.20) per kg last year, while low-grade leaf is being sold below Rs80 (US$ 1.17) per kg.
    Flue-cured deliveries are expected to reach 127 million kg, lower than the authorized crop size of 136 million kg.
    Auctions are expected to end in September.

  • Rapid changes needed

    Rapid changes needed

    A proposal in the US to lower the maximum amount of nicotine in legally available cigarettes to non-satisfying and non-addictive levels would cause deadly problems for years to come, according to Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the Consumer Choice Center and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute, writing at blog.heartland.org.
    Stier described the Food and Drug Administration proposal as policy candy that provided public health groups with a head-rush, but he said that evidence was scant that it would help smokers quit. And he added that it would be a boon to the already-thriving black market for these highly addictive products.
    Stier was writing on July 27, a day ahead of the one-year anniversary of the FDA’s announcement about what it called a “new comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation” that “places nicotine, and the issue of addiction, at the center of the agency’s tobacco regulation efforts”.
    ‘When rolling out the multi-year plan, [FDA] Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that “the overwhelming amount of death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes”,’ said Stier ‘Never was a more obvious statement more necessary, given the recent media hysteria over e-cigarettes.’
    In his piece, Stier looks at the agency’s two-pronged approach to reduce smoking, the first of which involved a public dialogue about lowering nicotine levels in combustible cigarettes to non-addictive levels.
    ‘The second part of the plan voiced a commitment to reform regulations to foster innovation for both recreational (e-cigarettes) and medicinal (nicotine replacement therapy) products,’ he said. ‘This component of the plan gave hope to countless former smokers who are smoke-free today because of e-cigarettes.’
    But, Stier said, FDA regulations already in force had put a freeze on innovation within this category. ‘And unless the FDA quickly makes regulatory changes, nearly all currently available e-cigarettes will be removed from the marketplace in just a few years,’ he warned.
    Stier goes on to evaluate what the FDA has achieved one year into its plan.

  • Ending tobacco within sight

    Ending tobacco within sight

    Governments should consider holding the tobacco industry criminally liable for the harm they cause, according to a statement by the US’ Action on Smoking and Health (ASH US).
    And it should consider taking steps to phase cigarettes out of the market.
    Ending the completely preventable tobacco epidemic was a human rights and development challenge that the world could overcome this century.
    ‘Cigarettes are the only consumer product that kill when used exactly as their manufacturer intends, causing more than seven million deaths every year,’ ASH US said. ‘It is time to regulate these products in a way that is proportional to the harm they cause.’
    ASH made its case in a statement welcoming to its Board of Trustees Dr. Cheryl Healton, whose extensive experience in public health would be a remarkable asset to ASH as it worked towards zero deaths from tobacco.
    ‘Dr. Healton’s deep understanding of the tobacco control field, as well as her collaborations with top public health researchers globally, will strengthen ASH’s cutting-edge approaches to ending the tobacco epidemic,’ the statement said. ‘Dr. Healton shares ASH’s view that we are not doing enough to address the tobacco epidemic. She has repeatedly shown an ability to turn visions into reality.’
    According to ASH, Healton is the Dean of the New York University College of Global Public Health where she builds the academic, service, and research programs on health prevention [sic], systems intervention, and innovation in public health practice. She is also a professor at the NYU College of Global Public Health.
    ‘Previously, as the founding president and CEO of Legacy (rebranded as The Truth Initiative) – a leading organization dedicated to tobacco control – Dr. Healton worked to further the foundation’s mission: to build a world where young people reject tobacco, and anyone can quit,’ the statement said. ‘During her time with Legacy, she guided the national youth tobacco prevention counter-marketing campaign, truth®, which has been credited with reducing youth smoking prevalence to record lows. Legacy launched a national smoking cessation campaign, public education campaigns, technical assistance, and a broad program of grant making. Additionally, Legacy established the Steven A. Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Studies.
    ‘Prior to Legacy, Dr. Healton held numerous roles at Columbia University where she worked to expand the scope of public health programs and undertook innovative educational initiatives to advance public health practice. She served as assistant vice president for the Health Sciences, associate dean of the medical school and later the associate dean of the School of Public Health, chair of the Department of Sociomedical Science, and professor of Clinical Public Health.’

  • Smoking incidence falls

    Smoking incidence falls

    The incidence of tobacco-smoking in Japan has fallen to 17.9 percent according to figures compiled during Japan Tobacco Inc’s most recent Japan Smoking Rate Survey, which was conducted in May.
    The survey, which has been carried out annually since 1965, showed the smoking incidence down by 0.3 of a percentage point, from 18.2 percent in 2017.
    The incidence of smoking among men was down by 0.4 of a percent point to 27.8 percent, while that among women was down by 0.3 of a percent point to 9.0 percent.
    Using figures from the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, JT calculated that Japan’s smoking population stood at 18.80 million in May, down from 19.17 million in 2017.
    The male smoking population was reckoned to be down from 14.26 million to 14.06 million, while the female smoking population was estimated to be down from 4.91 million to 4.74 million.
    In announcing the survey results, JT said it was of the view that the smoking rate in Japan had been on a declining trend because of various factors, including the aging of society, growing awareness about the health risks associated with smoking, the tightening of smoking-related regulations, and tax and price hikes.
    The company said it would continue its efforts to realize a society in which smokers and non-smokers could co-exist in harmony.
    According to JT, the survey was conducted in May 2018 using a stratified two-stage sampling method, by mailing questionnaires to about 32,000 adult men and women using ‘tobacco products, including cigarettes, T-vapor products, pipe, cigar and other tobacco products’ nationwide. It said it had collected 19,442 (60.6 percent) valid responses from the population surveyed.

  • Growing worries for farmers

    Growing worries for farmers

    In addition to the problems caused to them by ongoing international tariff-related trade battles, North Carolina tobacco farmers face a new hurdle to selling their crop because the US Food and Drug Administration is pushing to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels, according to a story by Cullen Browder for WRAL-TV.
    North Carolina has long been the number-one tobacco-producing state in the US, and while it grows only half the amount of tobacco it did 20 years ago, changing this cash crop would impact about 1,500 farm operations across the state.
    Sixty percent of North Carolina tobacco is sold overseas, and Graham Boyd, executive vice president of the Tobacco Growers’ Association of North Carolina, said the US already faced tough competition from countries that wouldn’t face the same nicotine restriction.
    Both the association and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have raised concerns about the FDA plan.
    “What matters to us is, does this put us at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace from a global perspective?” Boyd said.
    Meanwhile, Loren Fisher, the Philip Morris Professor in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department of North Carolina State University, said that reducing nicotine in tobacco plants was no easy task.
    “Those varieties don’t exist,” Fisher said. “It would take some time with plant breeding. It would be a conventional breeding program. If you were starting at ground zero, it could take 10 to 12 years.”
    Genetically modified plants would provide a quicker transition, but Fisher said international buyers were leery of GMO products.
    “That is not accepted by consumers and especially our customers outside the US who purchase tobacco that we grow in the United States,” he said. “Transgenic tobacco is not acceptable.”

  • Consuming question

    Consuming question

    Sales of illicit cigarettes have been rising in New York City for more than 10 years and now outnumber sales of licit cigarettes, according to a story by Gregory Bresiger for the New York Post quoting Scott Drenkard of the Tax Foundation.
    New York had “the worst smuggling problem in America,” said Drenkard, adding that the least a smoker could now legally pay for a pack in New York City was $13, which was recently raised from $10.50.
    Cigarette taxes and a new minimum price rule have raised the price of a pack by about 200 percent over the past decade.
    Consequently, smugglers buy cigarettes in a low-tax state such as Virginia, which imposes a 30-cent tax, and sells them in New York, where the combined city-and-state tax is £5.85.
    “Price disparities create incentives for illegal activity,” said Kim Kessler, assistant commissioner for the bureau of chronic disease prevention and tobacco control, NYC Health Department.
    “But we know that despite this activity, raising the price of tobacco products still reduces consumption. The lives we save by raising the price of tobacco far outweigh any lost taxes due to illegal sales,” Kessler told The Post.
    “The adult smoking rate has decreased from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 13.1 percent in 2016. Increasing the cigarette price floor to $13 is projected to lead to a 6.4 percent decline in adult cigarette smoking.”