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  • Israel Climbs European Tobacco-Control Ranking Despite Lagging Taxes

    Israel ranked 10th out of 37 countries in the 2025 Tobacco Control Scale, a European report published by the Smoke Free Partnership, which evaluates tobacco control policies across Europe on metrics including cigarette pricing and taxation, smoking bans in public places, advertising restrictions, health warnings on packaging, smoking cessation programs, age restrictions, and measures to combat illegal trade.

    Despite the improved overall ranking, the report identified a significant weakness in Israel’s pricing policy. The report awarded Israel just 11 points for pricing policy, five fewer than in the previous index. Recent tax increases — including a 2024 order raising taxes on cigarettes, rolling tobacco, heated tobacco products, and e-cigarettes — failed to fully preserve the intended deterrent effect because prices did not rise fast enough compared to broader increases in living costs and consumer purchasing power. Pricing accounts for up to 30 of the index’s 100 points, making it the most heavily weighted category.

    Israel’s broader performance presented a mixed picture. The country received 8 out of 10 points for smoking cessation support, 15 out of 22 for smoking bans in public places, and 11 out of 13 for advertising and marketing restrictions. However, Israel received no points for raising the legal purchasing age above 18 and none for combating illegal tobacco trade.

    On a more positive note, rules signed on June 29, 2025, and set to take effect on August 2, 2026, will require graphic health warnings covering 75% of the main surfaces of all tobacco and nicotine packaging. The report also reflected a broader European trend: for the first time, more countries lost points in the index than gained them, with much of the decline attributed to the erosion of tobacco prices amid inflation and regulatory gaps involving newer smoking products, particularly heated tobacco products. Ireland topped the overall rankings with 80 out of 100 points.

  • Graphic Cigarette Warnings May Nudge Smokers Toward Vaping, Study Finds

    New research from Washington State University, published in the Journal of Business Ethics, finds that graphic anti-smoking warnings on cigarette packaging may produce an unintended consequence: rather than quitting, some smokers are instead drawn toward e-cigarettes. In the absence of similar warnings for e-cigarettes, consumers may get the impression that they are a safe alternative.

    The study, conducted across four separate online experiments, found that smokers exposed to this disparity in health warnings shifted their attention and attitudes toward favorable views of vaping and demonstrated an intention to try e-cigarettes rather than quit smoking. In one study, however, when people were confronted with more balanced health warnings, they were less likely to have positive attitudes or intentions about vaping.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has adopted regulations requiring the use of 11 graphic images in addition to written warnings on cigarette packaging, but implementation has been held up in legal challenges. Warnings on e-cigarette packaging, by contrast, are brief verbal statements that nicotine is addictive.

    The research also highlights a secondary concern beyond current smokers. While the messaging environment affects smokers, it also influences young people who may consider vaping without ever having entertained the idea of smoking. Lead researcher Elizabeth Howlett of WSU’s Carson College of Business concluded that policymakers should consider the messages being sent across the entire market, not just individual products: presenting warnings on both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes would make consumers more accurately informed of the actual risks of all tobacco use.

  • Universal Corporation Posts Lower FY2026 Profit on Impairment, Tobacco Write-Downs

    Universal Corporation reported financial results for the fiscal year and fourth quarter ended March 31, 2026, with full-year sales and other operating revenue of $2.92 billion, roughly in line with the prior year’s $2.95 billion. Reported operating income fell 28 percent to $168.5 million, and adjusted operating income declined 13 percent to $211.3 million. Reported diluted earnings per share dropped to $1.30 from $3.78, while adjusted diluted EPS fell to $2.64 from $4.63. The results were weighed down by a $41.1 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge tied to the company’s Universal Ingredients-Shank’s operation and by inventory write-downs of $52 million, primarily for non-wrapper, dark air-cured tobacco, an increase of $32.2 million over the prior year.

    In the Tobacco Operations segment, revenue slipped 1 percent to $2.58 billion on a 2 percent decline in sales volumes and prices, partially offset by higher third-party processing volumes and product mix. Segment operating income fell $28.6 million, reflecting reduced volumes and the dark air-cured write-downs, even as demand for most tobacco styles remained firm and flue-cured and burley tobaccos performed solidly. Uncommitted tobacco inventory stood at 27 percent at year end, above the company’s target range due to delayed customer purchase commitments, but is expected to return to range during fiscal 2027. The Ingredients Operations segment grew revenue 3 percent to $348.1 million on higher volumes, though operating income fell to $3.2 million amid market headwinds, tariff impacts, high fixed costs from expansion at Shank’s, and $8.6 million in inventory write-downs.

    Chairman, President, and CEO Preston D. Wigner characterized the year as solid execution in a markedly different operating environment than the prior year, following an exceptionally strong fiscal 2025 for the tobacco segment. He expressed confidence heading into fiscal 2027, citing the resilience of the tobacco business and efficiency enhancements underway at Shank’s. The company reported total debt down $168.7 million year-over-year, interest expense down $5.6 million, and approximately $1.3 billion of available liquidity at March 31, 2026. Wigner also highlighted sustainability progress, including an advance to an “A” rating in CDP Supplier Engagement and recognition as a CDP Supplier Engagement Leader.

  • Taiwan Plans Confiscation and Fines for E-Cigarette Possession

    Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare is moving to amend the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act so that mere possession of e-cigarettes would be subject to confiscation and fines of up to NTD10,000. Minister Shih Chung-liang announced the plan following recent drug-impaired driving cases linked to “zombie vapes” laced with etomidate. A prior amendment that took effect on March 22, 2023, banned e-cigarettes and similar products, tightened controls on new tobacco products such as heated tobacco, and introduced a health risk assessment for their review.

    Under current rules, using e-cigarettes can draw fines of up to NTD5 million, but there is no specific penalty for simply possessing them, a gap Shih described as a loophole to be closed. The proposed amendment would set possession fines of NTD2,000 to NTD10,000, bringing them in line with penalties for use, and would cover related components and devices. The measure has been submitted to the Executive Yuan and is expected to enter the legislative process soon.

    The amendment also targets online activity. It would strengthen regulation of online sales and advertising and introduce a concept of “responsible administration,” requiring platforms to proactively ensure illegal products and advertisements are not distributed and to submit their management systems for government review. HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen said platforms could not escape responsibility by claiming content is open or automatically generated and that authorities would be able to restrict access to or remove illegal content. Supporters including Action Alliance on Basic Education president Wang Han-yang said the change would help schools, which have struggled to address students possessing e-cigarettes when possession alone is not illegal, by allowing seized devices to be handed over for official confiscation.

  • Vapers’ Alliance Faults South Africa’s Nicotine Policy on World Vape Day

    In a press release timed to World Vape Day 2026, the World Vapers’ Alliance argued that South African lawmakers are moving in the wrong direction on nicotine policy by aligning with calls for tighter restrictions on vapes and nicotine pouches. The release noted that the WHO marks World No Tobacco Day on May 31 with such calls and contrasted that stance with this year’s World Vape Day theme, “One Switch—Everyone Wins.”

    The Alliance built much of its case around secondhand effects, contending that when a smoker switches to alternatives, the benefits extend beyond the individual. It cited risks to children from secondhand smoke, including asthma, pneumonia, and bronchitis, along with maternal smoking outcomes such as low birth weight, preterm birth, and stillbirth and noted that children of smokers are more likely to become smokers themselves. Liza Katsiashvili, the group’s director of operations, argued that restricting or banning less harmful alternatives leaves families exposed to smoke rather than protecting them.

    The release challenged South African Health Minister Motsoaledi’s characterization of harm reduction as a flawed premise, pointing to Sweden’s near smoke-free status, the UK’s halved smoking rate, and New Zealand’s reduction of smoking among under-25s to around 3 percent as examples of countries that actively promoted alternatives. Katsiashvili also raised South Africa’s illicit trade problem, arguing that pushing consumers away from regulated alternatives hands the market to cigarettes and unregulated black-market products.

  • U.S. Smokeless Tobacco to Leave Nashville for Kentucky by 2028

    U.S. Smokeless Tobacco plans to relocate its manufacturing operations from its Germantown facility in Nashville to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, ending a presence in the city that has spanned more than a century. The company described the move as part of an effort to modernize operations and improve efficiency. Production in Nashville is expected to wind down in early 2028, with the transition taking place over roughly two years.

    More than 300 people currently work at the Nashville facility, which handles finishing and packaging for several of the company’s tobacco brands. Employees will be encouraged to apply for positions in Kentucky or Virginia, while those who do not relocate will be offered severance and transition support. The company also intends to sell its campus of more than 30 acres in the Germantown area once operations have moved out.

    The announcement has already prompted questions locally about the future of the property. Councilmember Jacob Kupin said he had fielded numerous calls from neighbors and, pointing to prior developments such as East Bank and Wasioto Bend, said he looked forward to discussions about a future use for the site that serves Nashville.

  • J.C. Newman Ships Fourth LeRoy Neiman Collector’s Edition

    J.C. Newman Cigar Co. has begun shipping the fourth installment of its LeRoy Neiman Collector’s Edition, a limited release built around the work of the late artist and cigar enthusiast. The 2026 edition reproduces Neiman’s painting The President’s Birthday Party, which depicts Marilyn Monroe’s 1962 performance for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. Fourth-generation owner Drew Newman said the patriotic image was selected to mark the 250th birthday of the United States, noting that figures including Bobby Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson also appear in the work.

    The cigar is offered in a single size, a Toro Grande measuring 6 1/2 inches by 56 ring gauge, and priced at $24. The blend pairs an Ecuador Habano wrapper with a Florida sun-grown binder and a filler of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobacco. Each cigar arrives in a sleeve bearing the painting, which is also reproduced as a lithograph on the inner lid of the box, giving the packaging the character of a small gallery exhibition. The cigars are made in Tampa at the El Reloj factory atop J.C. Newman’s headquarters.

    Production is limited to 750 boxes of 20 cigars each. The release date coincides with what would have been President Kennedy’s 109th birthday, and the company says all profits from sales will support arts education in public schools.

  • Warfighter Tobacco Ships 10th Anniversary and San Andres Releases

    Warfighter Tobacco Co. has begun shipping the two new cigars it introduced at the 2026 PCA Convention & Trade Show: the Warfighter 10th Anniversary and the Warfighter San Andres. The 10th Anniversary commemorates the veteran-owned company’s tenth year in business and, unusually for an anniversary cigar, enters the lineup as a regular production release rather than a limited edition. It is a 6 x 52 toro built with an Ecuadorian-grown, Sumatra-seed wrapper over a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan filler, carrying an MSRP of $12.75 per cigar and $255 for a box of 20.

    The Warfighter San Andres represents the return of a previously limited release, now also moving to regular production. The cigar originated as the company’s Heroes Sports line, released in 2022 to benefit a Texas-based charity of the same name. Its blend, a Mexican San Andres wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler in the same 6 x 52 toro format, is unchanged, but the name and branding have been revised. It is priced at $12.75 per cigar.

    Both cigars are produced at Tabacalera Carreras in Esteli, Nicaragua.

  • Imperial Expands U.S. Portfolio with Black Buffalo Acquisition

    Imperial Expands U.S. Portfolio with Black Buffalo Acquisition

    Imperial Brands announced it has acquired Black Buffalo in a deal valued at $150 million upfront, with additional performance-based payments over the next three years, as the company looks to expand its position in the fast-growing U.S. oral nicotine category. The acquisition gives Imperial and its U.S. subsidiary ITG Brands a stronger foothold beyond traditional nicotine pouches through Black Buffalo’s tobacco-free long cut and pouch products designed to replicate the experience of moist smokeless tobacco.

    Founded in 2015 and manufactured in North Carolina using U.S.-grown leafy greens, Black Buffalo has built a growing presence in the U.S. modern oral segment that has generated roughly $6.6 billion in sales over the past year and continues to grow at double-digit rates. While Imperial’s existing Zone pouch brand recently reached about 2.8% national market share across more than 109,000 U.S. stores, the company said Black Buffalo’s differentiated positioning complements its existing oral portfolio and strengthens its long-term next-generation products strategy as cigarette volumes continue to decline globally.

  • ALP Taps Conor McGregor as Pouch Brand Partner

    ALP Taps Conor McGregor as Pouch Brand Partner

    ALP Supply Co. announced a partnership with Conor McGregor as the company accelerates its expansion across international markets and broader consumer marketing channels. ALP, founded less than two years ago, said the collaboration will support its nicotine pouch brand growth ahead of planned launches in the European Union and South America later this year.

    The agreement includes a multi-channel marketing campaign spanning broadcast, digital, social, and experiential activations, timed around major combat sports events, including International Fight Week in July, where speculation continues around McGregor’s potential return to competition. ALP executives said the partnership aligns with the company’s strategy of building visibility through sports and culture-focused marketing as competition intensifies in the rapidly growing nicotine pouch category.

    The company said it plans to continue expanding retail and digital distribution as demand for oral nicotine products grows globally.