Tag: Featured

Stories featured at the top of tobaccoreporter.com

Broughton Expands Toxicology Team

Photo courtesy of Broughton Nicotine Services
Yvonne Wilding
Broughton Nicotine Services has hired five additional toxicology specialists to strengthen its support for companies in the electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) sector.
The new team members are: Yvonne Wilding (director, product safety and compliance), Emmanuel Minet and Frazer Lowe (principal scientists), Djeren Simitdjioglu (associate toxicologist) and Anais Kahve (toxicologist).
Wilding is a highly experienced toxicologist with more than 10 years’ broad regulatory toxicology experience and 20 years pharmaceutical research and development experience at companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca.
‘’We’re delighted to welcome these highly experienced individuals to our existing team,” said Chris Allen, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at Broughton. “Toxicology is an essential element of the scientific and regulatory support we provide to ENDS companies submitting premarket applications in the UK, US and emerging markets.
“Having a large team of toxicologists in-house collaborating with our analytical team and external suppliers will help us leverage improved efficiencies for clients and accelerate compilation of scientific data for regulatory projects to advance a smoke free future.’’
April 29, 2020
TPB Reports Robust Demand in Hard Times

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
Turning Point Brands (TPB) announced its first quarter results for 2020.
Net sales decreased 1 percent to $90.7 million while gross profit increased 2.4 percent to $41.4 million. Net income decreased to $3.3 million, reflecting inclusion of premarket tobacco product application costs.
“Our results this quarter reflect the robust demand for our products even during challenging times,” said Larry Wexler, president and CEO of TPB. “Sales performance was driven by mid-teens growth in our core smokeless and smoking segments partially aided by trade load-in as a response to strong customer demand and the uncertain environment. We estimate trade load-in impacted sales in our core tobacco segments by $2 million. Our NewGen segment also delivered better than expected results after we reorganized the business last quarter.”
“As a result of the extraordinary situation we are facing [the Covid-19 outbreak], our focus during the quarter was on the safety and well-being of our colleagues and the communities and customers we serve. This focus serves as the basis for decisions we make as a company and how we react going forward,” said Wexler.
In response to Covid-19, TPB has implemented safety precautions, including split shifts in warehouses and manufacturing facilities, temperature scans, additional contactless hand sanitizing stations, protective equipment, social distancing guidelines, increased cleaning and sanitation, the suspension of unnecessary travel, the implementation of telecommuting where possible, videoconferencing, and tele-selling initiatives. Some of these changes are likely to remain in place even after the pandemic crisis is over, leading to ongoing cost savings.
April 29, 2020
Fontem Submits PMTAs for Myblu Products

Photo courtesy of Imperial Brands
Imperial Brands subsidiary Fontem US has submitted Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking authorization for the continued marketing of a wide range of its Myblu electronic vapor products.
Fontem US’s Blu products play a fundamental role in the company’s goal of providing adult smokers with options that are potentially less harmful than combustible tobacco products. The PMTA submissions include data from a comprehensive range of laboratory and clinical scientific studies, including product analyses, behavioral data, nonclinical health risk information, and information on the impact to both users and non-users of tobacco products.
Fontem US believes the evidence provided shows that Blu electronic vaping products could play a role in the protection of the public health, in line with the guidance issued by FDA.
“We agree that the electronic vaping industry should be held to the highest product and marketing standards while providing adult smokers with alternative products that could serve the interest of the public health,” said Antoine Blonde, president of Fontem US.
“Fontem US looks forward to working with the FDA as the agency develops and enforces an evidence-based regulatory policy.”
April 29, 2020
COP9 and MOP2 Postponed to November 2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) said it would postpone its major conferences for a year.
“In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic and its impact on the conduct of international global conferences and travel, the Bureaus elected by COP8 and MOP1, after consulting the host country, have decided that convening the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC (COP9) and the Second Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP2), scheduled for November 2020, is no longer possible,” the organization states on its website.
As a result, the Bureaus, in consultation with the host country and the Secretariat, decided during their Third Joint Meeting on 21 April 2020 to postpone the sessions of COP9 and MOP2 to the following dates:
COP9: 8–13 November 2021; .
MOP2: 15–17 November 2021.
The meetings will convene on those dates in The Hague, Netherlands.
April 28, 2020
Zimbabwe Union Calls for Auction Delay

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The National Union for Tobacco Industry and Allied Trade (NUTIAT) is calling for a delay in the opening of auction floors in Zimbabwe until the country’s lockdown is over.
The lockdown is set to end on Sunday, but the auction floors are set to open this week.
NUTIAT argues that the safety measures put in place are not enough to protect employees from contracting Covid-19.
“As tobacco employees, we are concerned about our safety if auction floors are allowed to open when the country is still under national lockdown,” said Tabuda Moyo, NUTIAT secretary-general.
“Opening up tobacco floors before end of lockdown could jeopardize the health of the workers, and with the absence of trade union leaders in the national Covid-19 taskforce, I see coronavirus increases coming to the floors. So, what we wish is that the selling and marketing season should wait until this lockdown is over,” Moyo said.
April 28, 2020
ITGA Campaigns to Help Farmers Amid Crisis

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) in coordination with its members’ organizations is analyzing the impact of Covid-19 on tobacco farmers, particularly small noncontracted farmers.
The ITGA is developing a campaign that aims to raise awareness of the hardships farmers may face due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and provide basic conditions to the weakest link of the supply chain, not only looking at tobacco farmers but all small farmers subject to similar conditions. The ITGA is asking governments, United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations and other entities to support this campaign, which has specific recommendations for each country.
April 27, 2020
Imperial Brands Sells Cigar Business

photo: Image by Chris Frenzel from Pixabay
Imperial Brands has agreed to the sale of its premium cigar business, Premium Cigars, for €1.23 billion ($1.33 billion).
After adjusting for tax and other costs, the disposals are expected to realize net cash proceeds of around €1.09 billion. The proceeds will be used for debt reduction and will reduce September 2019 pro-forma net debt to EBITDA leverage by 0.2 times.
“We are delighted to be able to announce the sale of Premium Cigars in the current challenging global environment,” said Dominic Brisby and Joerg Biebernick, joint interim chief executives. “It has been a complex transaction involving joint venture partners and assets across multiple geographies, and we would like to thank everyone involved for working so hard to get the deal agreed.”
“We believe we have found the right long-term owners for Premium Cigars; they are committed to investing in the business to maximize future growth opportunities and are well positioned to further develop operations internationally,” Brisby and Biebernick added.
The sale will take place in two transactions documented under two sale agreements: one for the USA business (Premium Cigar USA) and another for the rest of the world business (Premium Cigar RoW).
Gemstone Investment Holding will acquire Premium Cigar USA for a consideration of €185 million. Allied Cigar Corp. will acquire Premium Cigar RoW for a consideration of €1.04 billion.
The transactions are expected to close in the third quarter of 2020. The Premium Cigar RoW transaction includes the sale of the Dominican Republic handmade premium cigar factory, which is expected to close in 2021.
April 27, 2020
Zimbabwe Selling Season Starts April 29

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) announced that Zimbabwe’s tobacco selling season will officially start on April 29.
The marketing season usually begins in mid-March, but due to heavy rains and the outbreak of the coronavirus, the season has been pushed back and the government has decentralized auction floors.
Following the virus outbreak, auction floors will follow new rules to help prevent the spread of the disease. Strict handwashing procedures will be followed, temperatures will be taken at entry points and only essential personnel will be allowed on the auction floors.
“Contract tobacco sales will start on Thursday, April 30 while sales bookings and deliveries will open on Monday, April 27, 2020,” said Andrew Matibiri, TIMB chief executive. “Some contractors had already decentralized auction floors and will operate from there while others were geared for Harare. These will operate in Harare under strict guidelines.”
April 27, 2020
Swedish Match Reports Record Quarter

Photo: Swedish Match
Swedish Match had a record quarter from product segments driven by U.S. businesses.
In local currencies, sales from product segments increased by 21 percent for the first quarter. Reported sales increased by 24 percent to SEK4.03 billion ($401.68 million)
In local currencies, operating profit from product segments increased by 30 percent for the first quarter. Reported operating profit from product segments increased by 34 percent to SEK1.65 billion.
Operating profit amounted to SEK1.59 billion for the first quarter. Profit after tax amounted to SEK1.16 billion for the first quarter. Earnings per share increased by 38 percent to SEK7.14 for the first quarter.
Net effect on revenue and results from Covid-19 impacts were positive in the first quarter but are expected to become negative in the second quarter.
Swedish Match nicotine pouch product ZYN is now available in approximately 80,000 stores in the U.S., and average sales per store continue to increase.
April 27, 2020
In Memoriam: Jean-Louis Vander Elst
Jean-Louis Vander Elst
Jean-Louis Vander Elst died April 12 after contracting the coronavirus. He had been unwell for some time.
Born in 1934, Vander Elst worked in the tobacco industry his entire career. He studied commercial engineering at Belgium’s Leuven University, spent time in the United States and subsequently joined his family company Tabacofina-Vander Elst in Antwerp, Belgium, where he stayed until 1982.
The best-known tobacco product in Belgium at that time was the Belga cigarette. One of Vander Elst’s projects was to develop a filtered version of the brand. When Rothmans International took control of Tabacofina-Vander Elst in the early 1980s, Vander Elst joined Casalee in Antwerp.
Six years later he became an independent trader.
Vander Elst was admired and respected across the industry for his broad subject knowledge, along with his interest in mentoring and developing the skills of young people.
Friends instantly recognized Vander Elst’s presence by the aroma of his pipe, which was usually filled with his favorite McBaren Mixture tobacco blend.
To many he was known simply as “The Gentleman.”
April 27, 2020