Tag: Shisha

  • Morocco to Increase Waterpipe Taxes

    Morocco to Increase Waterpipe Taxes

    Photo: alexlmx

    Morocco is preparing to increase taxes on waterpipes, reports Morocco World News.

    The country’s Finance and Economic Development Committee approved the new taxes on Nov. 9. Following the increase, smokers would pay MAD675 ($63) per kg of shisha smoking material.

    The approval comes after a government amendment to the Finance Bill of 2023 extending the tax base to include shisha without tobacco and electronic cigarettes. 

    Officials said the measure “aims to preserve the health of consumers, especially young adults, and to protect them against the negative effects of consumption and addiction to these products.” 

    The statement further explains that the imports of tobacco-free shisha are not subject to taxes, although they carry the same health risks as tobacco-based shisha. 

    The decision to raise the tax is based on World Health Organization research indicating that smoking products containing a mixture of fruits and herbs without tobacco pose a similar risk to tobacco products. 

    The WHO recommends subjecting such products to the same restrictions and taxes as tobacco products.

    According to the Moroccan government, the European Commission classifies herbal mixtures, aromatic herbs or fruits as smoking products.

  • Piping Up

    Piping Up

    Ruth Gunning (Photo: European Shisha Community Alliance )

    Ruth Gunning, board director of the European Shisha Community Alliance, discusses the challenges facing the water pipe tobacco sector in Germany.

    By Stefanie Rossel

    While still a niche, shisha has become more popular in Germany in recent years. The country is the largest market for water pipe tobacco in the European Union, with entrepreneurs introducing many new shisha brands. Germany is also home to large communities from Turkey and the Middle East, where smoking shisha has historically been a popular pastime. Many Germans try shisha on holidays in Turkey, Egypt or Dubai and subsequently seek it out when they return home.

    According to estimates by the European Shisha Community Alliance (ESCA), smokers consume about 5,500 tons of shisha annually in Germany. A quarter of it is consumed in the country’s approximately 6,000 shisha lounges. But the market has a severe black market problem—around 45 percent of water pipe tobacco is nonduty paid or counterfeit.

    As part of the country’s recently passed tobacco tax reform, the German ministry of finance will increase taxes on shisha tobacco by an additional €23 ($27.24) per kilo by 2026. Furthermore, pack sizes will be limited to 25 grams from July 1, 2022.

    Tobacco Reporter spoke with Ruth Gunning, head of EU engagement for shisha manufacturer Al Fakher and a board director for the ESCA, about the challenges facing the sector.

    Tobacco Reporter: Water pipe smoking is a social activity, with much of it taking place in shisha lounges. Which impact has the Covid-19 pandemic had on the German shisha market?

    Ruth Gunning: It has been an extremely difficult period, and unfortunately the relief has been slower than originally anticipated so far in 2021. Many of our members have been unable to operate—lounges due to the restrictions that have been put in place and some retailers have had to remain shut due to the nonessential nature of their business. Not just in Germany but across Europe. Much of the use was driven into the home.

    As the hospitality sector was allowed to reopen, initially with outdoor areas being most popular, we started to see more anti-tobacco groups being very vocal about banning outdoor smoking and linking it to the spread of Covid-19 despite having no evidence to support this. Shisha is nothing like cigarettes, yet these groups seem to conveniently forget that people’s livelihoods are fully reliant on the shisha sector operating at full capacity. We estimate that there are about 65,000 people across Europe with jobs that are dependent on the shisha category. ESCA has had to work hard with its members to try to ensure that shisha bars and lounges are afforded the same opportunities for reopening as others in the hospitality sector. All of our members are fully committed to upholding extensive hygiene standards to ensure their customers are protected and feel safe.

    Amid the crisis, Germany, uniquely in the EU, passed a law to reduce the packaging size for shisha tobacco to 25 grams in order to curb illicit trade. What is your take on this measure?

    We support any efforts to help to reduce the problem of illicit trade. The problem with this new proposal is that it requires significant enforcement, which will undoubtedly not happen. It also doesn’t properly address the growing problem of illicit [trade]. Enforcement in Germany, particularly in lounges serving illegal product, is very low, and now with the increase in prices for consumers, the incentive for smugglers will grow and/or people will buy elsewhere, i.e., in countries where they can access larger pack sizes at cheaper prices.

    What impact will this regulation have on manufacturers?

    Complexity and cost. This new size will require a reconfiguration of the production process in factories. New equipment and materials will be required, and Germany will be the only country to have this, which will be costly. Manufacturers who are hardest hit by illicit [trade] may face real challenges in protecting the legal market if the government does not step in and enforce its new laws.

    What does it mean for shisha lounge owners?

    Again, it’s a question of enforcement. Many lounge owners are legally compliant; they are already required to serve only 20 gram packs to consumers. But because there is a lack of consistent enforcement, those who seek to abide by the law lose out. They already compete on an uneven playing field.

    Many shisha lounges in Germany have been unable to operate due to Covid-19 restrictions. (Photo: Parilov)

    Will the new rules help reduce tobacco consumption in Germany?

    The more restrictions are placed on products like shisha, the more the illegal market grows—and with that comes an added risk to consumers. Therefore, I don’t think added restrictions will reduce tobacco consumption; it will merely drive it underground.

    Germany and Europe’s aim to reduce tobacco use is totally understandable. And in fact, globally, many people recognize that a move from combustible to heated products can be beneficial. However, it is important to remember that shisha is very different from cigarettes. Shisha is heated at a much lower temperature compared to cigarettes, which are burnt, and the aerosol produced when shisha is heated comprises 60 percent water vapor compared to 15 percent in cigarette smoke.

    According to the Federal Institute of Risk in Germany, on average, people in Germany use a shisha once or twice a week. If you compare this to cigarette use, where on average users can smoke 20 [cigarettes] to 30 cigarettes a day, the difference in consumption pattern is staggering. The exposure to tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide over a one-week period for average shisha smokers is far less than that for average cigarette smokers. Shisha is much lower on the risk continuum than cigarettes, and as governments aim to reduce cigarette and combustible tobacco use, they should not apply the same regulations to shisha. 

    Whilst shisha is a tobacco product and is not harmless, it is used very occasionally, it is a social activity, and it has cultural and historical roots. Shisha consumption is a lifestyle choice for adults, is a force for good and is part of an inclusive society.

    Your association estimates that illicit product accounts for more than 45 percent of the German shisha market. How does this compare to the situation in other EU markets?

    It’s not the worst in the EU because the taxes are not the highest when compared to other countries. However, with the newly imposed excise hikes, this will likely change from January 2022 onward. The biggest factor driving the illegal business in Europe is the EU’s position on shisha taxation. At the moment, shisha is taxed in the “Other tobacco” category, which includes pipe tobacco, cigars and cigarillos. These are very different products to shisha in terms of use and market size. The range of taxes in the EU goes from €22 per kg to €250 per kg. This, combined with the open borders, causes a great deal of instability in the shisha tobacco market. The French market, for example, has 85 [percent] to 90 percent illegal shisha, and that is solely because the tax is so high. Spain, on the other hand, is almost 100 percent legal because it has reasonable taxes. This provides the Spanish government with full control over the sector. 

    Many countries, such as Russia and now Germany, have introduced a special tax category for shisha alone. But more is needed. In addition to its own tax category, ideally, shisha should be taxed based on the percentage of tobacco contained in the shisha. Shisha only contains about 15 percent tobacco and should be taxed based on this. In Russia, they switched to a tax system that only taxes the actual tobacco content, and they converted the market from almost 100 percent illegal to 100 percent legal in a short period of time.

    What, in your view, would be a better solution to tackle black market for hookah tobacco?

    The most obvious solution is to apply excise according to the weight of the tobacco. This would bring prices down and significantly reduce incentive for organized criminal gangs to smuggle and counterfeit shisha products. Additional sensible solutions are to stock, prepare and serve shisha in sight of the consumers and from its original packaging. This requires enforcement by authorities and also a desire by consumers to be served genuine product. Consumers should demand certain standards. Introducing a licensing system for shisha lounges with license renewal to be subject to compliance performance—for example, with withdrawal of a license after three infringements—would also be a possibility. Furthermore, there should be regular inspections of inventory and significant fines for those involved in selling illegal products.

    Which countries have handled this issue most successfully and could serve as an example?

    Spain is really the best example I can give. In addition to the steps outlined above, another known and proven way to get illicit trade under control and to meet the objective of protecting public health is to ensure that the tax rate takes into account the rates in neighboring countries, tax increases are planned over the long term and are increased in regular and small increments and close cooperation between industry and authorities. Additionally, enforcement and penalties should be strong enough to act as a deterrent. A legal market is easier for the authorities to monitor, and legal manufacturers are obliged to follow all product, packaging and marketing regulations, which strengthens the authorities’ aim of protecting public health. Criminals that are involved in the illegal trade of shisha don’t follow any regulations or laws, and the authorities cannot monitor the product as it is mostly sold out of sight and “under the table.”

    What about the future of shisha in Europe?

    The next big piece of legislation that we need to be prepared for is the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. The EU has already stated that it aims to ban flavors for all tobacco products. Shisha is inherently flavored; therefore, it would act as a de facto ban of the product. That would be disastrous for thousands of businesses across the EU, deprive EU citizens of the ability to legally consume shisha and exacerbate an already flourishing illegal market.

    Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.
  • Tyranny of the Majority

    Tyranny of the Majority

    Photo: Olha Brahina| Dreamstime.com

    The Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to permanently restrict shisha lounges.

    By George Gay

    Since shortly after the start of this year, people around the world have been asked or required to change some of their habits to allow governments to implement strategies aimed at defeating Covid-19. Under these changes, people have been introducing certain hygiene regimes, staying at home except for essential outings, observing social distancing and wearing masks.

    There is, in my book, nothing controversial in this. Democracy involves an unwritten agreement, part of which has it that citizens can expect their governments to protect them as long as those citizens are willing to fall in line with the reasonable requirements of their governments.

    So far, so good. Of course, no system is perfect, and there are those who, brought up on a diet of neoliberal dog-eat-dog dogma, like to rail against any curtailments of their perceived rights while ignoring any social responsibilities they might have, even though, for many of them, the wearing of masks, for instance, would be aesthetically affirming. And there are those who, while believing that complying with such safety requirements is a good idea, believe it is a good idea only for others.

    Such attitudes are not helpful. Since it is known that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is transmissible in a number of ways, including through human-to-human contact, it is necessary, in order to defeat the pandemic, for as many people as possible to follow the rules set out by responsible governments. But such unity is undermined by people who believe they can be free agents while enjoying the advantages of a rules-based society. And it is undermined by governments when rules are not applied fairly, which usually means, in part, universally.

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    Touching lips

    According to a story in the Hindustan Times, on Aug. 3, India’s national government banned with immediate effect the use of hookahs in public places, purportedly as part of its strategy for defeating Covid-19. But I cannot help feeling there is more to this ban than its use in the fight against Covid-19.

    There has to be. The Hindustan Times reported that, in announcing the ban, the principal health secretary Vikram Dev Dutt had cited four reasons why the use of hookahs increased the transmission of Covid-19, but these reasons don’t stand up to scrutiny. The first reason was said to be that smokers were likely to touch their lips more often [presumably than were nonsmokers]. No evidence was given in the newspaper piece for this statement and, from my further reading, this seems to be an idea put forward in respect of cigarette smokers, which would at least align with common sense, given the way that a lot of cigarette smokers hold their cigarettes. On the other hand, my observations of hookah smokers tell me that they tend not to touch their mouths with their fingers when they place a hookah mouthpiece between their lips. Indeed, an Internet picture I saw of four Palestinian men enjoying shisha in a lounge showed the shisha-pipe mouthpieces being held with hands at least 25 cm from their faces and passing through face masks, which would have made it impossible for the smokers to touch their lips. I would suggest that any division between people who touch their lips with their fingers a lot and those who don’t has to do with factors other than hookah smoking or not.

    The second reason given was that smokers were likely already to have lung diseases or reduced lung capacity [compared with that of nonsmokers]. This might be true, if it applies to all smokers, not just hookah smokers. Again, there was no evidence given for this statement, and it wasn’t mentioned that while some people claim that tobacco smoking leads to worse outcomes if a smoker contracts Covid-19, others claim that smoking can protect against contracting the disease. I hasten to add that, to the best of my knowledge, neither of these claims has been corroborated.

    The third reason was that smoking hookahs involved sharing mouthpieces. This is simply wrong. It might be that some people share mouthpieces, but others don’t, as was the case with the four Palestinian men described above, who were each using not only separate mouthpieces but separate pipes. Sharing mouthpieces or pipes is not a condition of smoking hookahs.

    The fourth reason was that conditions likely to increase oxygen needs or reduce the ability of the body to use oxygen properly would put Covid-19 “patients” at a higher risk of developing complications. This might be true, but it concerns the outcomes of individuals who have caught the disease, not the transmission of Covid-19, which is purportedly what the ban was put in place to reduce. And, in any case, if it is true it applies to all smokers, not just hookah smokers.

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    Terrible irony

    Indeed, it would apply much wider still. There is a terrible irony in the government’s having raised the issue of “conditions likely to increase oxygen needs or reduce the ability of the body to use oxygen properly.” The Indian national government sits in Delhi, which, according to a Wikipedia entry quoting a World Health Organization survey of 1,650 cities worldwide, has the worst air quality of any major city in the world. “On 25 Nov. 2019, the Supreme Court of India made statements on the pollution in Delhi, saying, “Delhi has become worse than narak (hell),” according to Wikipedia. “Supreme Court Justice Arun Mishra said that it is better to get explosives and kill everyone.” Quite.

    Looked at through the lens of the health secretary’s four reasons, it seems laughable to imagine that a ban on smoking hookahs in public places is going to have more than a snowball’s chance in narak of slowing the tide of Covid-19. But that is not to say that such a ban is not useful. It probably is, but the real reason why it is useful is that, along with similar measures applied to other public venues, it helps prevent people congregating for nonessential reasons. Going back to the four Palestinian men, only one seemed as though he might be socially distanced.

    It was and is perfectly logical for shisha lounges to be shut during lockdowns that have seen the closing of other public venues, including bars, restaurants and places of entertainment. And a quick check of the internet soon reveals that closures have occurred in many countries, including those where shisha use is traditional.

    But, by the same token, it is perfectly logical for shisha bars to reopen after lockdown rules on these sorts of venues are relaxed and once general and specific regimes for keeping customers as safe as possible have been put in place. One London council has asked shisha venue owners to limit the number of customers allowed into their lounges and ensure social distancing; to ensure customers wash their hands before and after smoking; to thoroughly sterilize pipes after use; to use disposable mouthpieces; and to ban the sharing of pipes.

    None of these requests is particularly onerous, and while limiting the number of customers might have implications for a business’ viability, this is an issue that all public venues are having to face as part of the trade-off between protecting health and reopening the economy.

    What should not happen, however, is temporary and justifiable bans on the opening of shisha lounges be extended unjustifiably in relation to what is happening with other comparable venues, or even turned into permanent bans. And this is happening, or at least being suggested, in some countries led by people with what I would describe as highly focused puritanical attitudes—in countries where political opponents can be made to disappear, but heaven forbid they should be allowed to harm themselves by smoking.

    And this sort of unjustifiable ban can be rendered “justifiable” in the eyes of many people by conducting polls. An Arab News Twitter poll of 1,500 people apparently found that 82 percent of people favored maintaining bans on the opening of shisha lounges even after lockdowns were otherwise lifted. But acting on the evidence of such polls is clearly unfair given that shisha smoking is a minority activity that has been given pariah status by authorities around the world but not banned. Such polls are like asking whether the authorities should ban the public playing of bagpipes—another activity defined by hoses and mouthpieces—in England, where I assume 99 percent of people not hearing-impaired would, somewhat selfishly, vote yes to a ban. Polls should not be used to enforce the tyranny of the majority.

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    Case study

    Faizan Aatif

    In August, Tobacco Reporter asked Faizan Aatif, who, with partner Mohammed Sheikh, runs Afzal Shisha UK, about some of the shisha business challenges and responses that had been elicited by the Covid-19 crisis. Aatif, whose business supplies a novel shisha tobacco product to individuals and businesses and was the subject of a recent feature story in Tobacco Reporter, is closely associated with the world of shisha lounges.

    Tobacco Reporter: Is it correct to say that shisha bars in the U.K. have been shut since the lockdown closed other venues, such as restaurants and pubs?

    Faizan Aatif: Yes, indeed, all shisha lounges in the U.K. were forced to close along with restaurants and pubs in March.

    Are these shisha bars now opening with new hygiene rules in place?

    Yes, the majority of shisha lounges have now reopened but with reduced capacity and precautions as per government guidelines.

    What sorts of rules are being introduced?

    Mainly, those to do with social distancing between tables, the wearing of masks by staff, bans on the sharing of pipes, the use of disposable hoses and the introduction of hand-sanitizing stations. Some businesses even check the temperature of patrons prior to allowing entry to the premises.

    Are these initiatives consistent across the country, or do they vary venue to venue? 

    As you would expect, some venues are better than others, but generally they are consistent in following guidelines.

    Do you think shisha bars can be viable with these new rules in place?

    For the time being, especially after such a prolonged lockdown, people are just thankful to have a venue so they can get out and socialize with friends. Many are nondrinkers, so the shisha lounge is their bar and club. The shisha is pretty secondary! All shisha lounges we deal with have been extremely busy ever since they reopened, so hopefully if there is not a significant second wave of infection and another lockdown, things will return to normal soon.

    How has the lockdown affected your shisha business? Have you seen increased sales to individuals?

    With lounges being forced to close, we were really worried as our trade sales dropped to zero literally overnight. However, we formed a strategy to focus on small retail packs, and that was very successful and kept us ticking over. A massive proportion of previously lounge-only smokers began purchasing shisha apparatus and shisha tobacco to smoke at home, and we spent a lot of time on social media giving advice to new home smokers to help them improve their sessions and troubleshoot any issues they were experiencing. We also ran some discount promotions and competitions for end customers, and those campaigns proved very successful.

    Is there anything else significantly impacting the shisha business in the U.K. right now?

    Our biggest problem in the U.K. shisha industry is the number of illegal black market “brands” emerging on the market, enticing lounges and retail customers with cheap, tax-free pricing. Many of these products are entirely unregulated and mixed up in underground factories, so there is a very real increased public health risk. We need greater policing of our segment of the tobacco industry by the authorities as it’s hitting the few official U.K. importers such as ourselves very hard. If the legitimate brands decide it’s no longer in their interests to pursue the U.K. as a viable market, then the entire industry will be driven underground and will be in the hands of criminals. —G.G.

    George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.
  • Two-Stage Tobacco

    Two-Stage Tobacco

    Photos courtesy of Afzal Shisha U.K.

    By separating their product into two components, ASUK and ASI can offer U.K. consumers shisha at a considerably lower price.

    By George Gay

    It’s easy to understand why traditional cigarettes have an enduring appeal for many of those who enjoy consuming nicotine. I don’t want this to sound like an advertisement for smoking, but cigarettes must surely deliver the highest pleasure-to-effort ratio of any tobacco or nicotine product.

    Many snus users—and others—will balk at this, but I would argue that whereas the effort needed to consume snus is less than that needed to smoke a cigarette, this advantage is more than outweighed because the range of pleasures (lighting the cigarette, having something to hold, watching the cloud of smoke … ) enjoyed when smoking a cigarette is wider than that of consuming snus. Of course, the consumption of tobacco as a cigar or in a Western-style pipe reproduces this range of cigarette pleasures, but, assuming the cigar or pipe smoke is not inhaled into the lungs, the level of nicotine satisfaction will probably fall short of that of cigarette smoking.

    Based on this sort of assessment, shisha consumption also fails to match that of cigarettes. The effort needed, from setting up a hookah to cleaning it afterward, is considerable. And somebody in the know told me recently, apropos of something else, that a five-a-day cigarette smoker who enjoyed a two-hour shisha smoking session might, at the end of the session, light a cigarette, apparently to enjoy the nicotine fix not provided by the shisha.

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    Splitting the product

    The problem here, though, is that this sort of assessment is based on a number of assumptions. It assumes, for instance, that putting effort in is a negative, and this is not necessarily the case. Some vapers like the convenience of the pod system where they plug in and go, but others like to treat their habit more as a hobby. In other words, if you want a quick fix, you’ll probably go for a cigarette or a pod vaping system, but if you want to relax and are willing to set aside some time, you’ll probably choose to enjoy a big cigar or an open vaping system, perhaps in the company of like-minded people.

    And this is where shisha’s star starts to shine. As is well known, shisha smoking is more often than not a social activity conducted in lounges where people gather with their friends to relax. For many, especially those who eschew alcohol, a shisha lounge can be the equivalent of a pub. And the act of preparing a hookah and smoking shisha is one in which at least part of this effort morphs into a ritual made pleasurable by the skills required.

    Which is something that Afzal Shisha U.K. (ASUK) has plugged into in the U.K. where, because of a weight-based tobacco tax system, the retail price of shisha can prove to be prohibitively high and where, as a result, illicit products are believed to be widely available and used. ASUK has partnered with Afzal Soex India (ASI), one of the world’s largest shisha tobacco producers, to develop a novel product that, while it requires some additional effort on the part of the user, significantly reduces the excise duty that otherwise applies to shisha in the U.K.

    During an interview in London in March, Faizan Aatif, a scientist (immunology and pharmacology) by profession and one of two partners in ASUK, told me that, whereas 1 kg of standard shisha typically contained as little as 160 grams of tobacco with the rest comprising a blend of casing, sugar syrups, honey, glycerine and flavors, duty was applied to the full 1 kg. This might seem unfair, but from the point of view of HR Revenue, I guess, it is the only way to calculate duty without allowing manufacturers to self-declare the amount of tobacco in their blends, a system that would be open to abuse.

    Mohammed Sheikh (left)and Faizan Aatif

    Aatif said it had taken a year of working with ASI’s R&D department to develop what he described as ASUK’s unique two-stage shisha tobacco, Afzal Ready2Go, which the end user buys as two separate components. One of these comprises the tobacco, which attracts duty, while the other comprises the liquid enhancer, which doesn’t.

    It is not difficult to imagine how such a product reduces the tax payable and, therefore, the retail price. ASUK’s flavor-infused shisha tobacco, which is processed by ASI in India from a blend of neutral European flue-cured Virginia leaf, weighs in at 140 grams, while the liquid enhancer, which is also manufactured by ASI and which can be used with any of the flavored tobaccos, weighs in at 360 grams.

    To make a 500 gram batch of shisha, the end user adds the liquid to the tobacco in a supplied, resealable bag and massages the bag to mix the two components thoroughly. The contents of the bag are then left to marinate at room temperature for a minimum of 48 hours, when it is ready to be smoked, though the optimum steeping time is two weeks, by which time all the juice has been absorbed by the leaf.

    The U.K. tobacco duty rate as of February 2020 (before the March budget), was £125.20 ($156.25) per kg for “other smoking tobacco,” the classification applicable to shisha tobacco, so the duty on a traditional 500 gram pack would be £62.60, pushing the retail price to about £125, including VAT. But in the case of the two-component product, duty is applied only to the 140 grams of tobacco, so the duty payable is £17.53, allowing the retail price to be pushed down to £70 for 500 grams, which is enough for about 25 smoking sessions.

    Aatif says that as long as the two-component product is allowed to steep for the required time, it performs as well as ASI’s regular products, which he described as world renowned. In part, this is because, unlike other two-component products, the flavor is applied to ASUK’s tobacco in a process that ensures it is uniformly distributed and absorbed by the tobacco rather than the liquid enhancer when the flavor distribution is dependent in part on the mixing and marinating process performed by the user. Of course, Aatif is aware that future regulations on tobacco and flavors might mean that ASUK will have to rethink the way that it offers its two-component product.

    ASUK, which is the sole distributor of ASI’s shisha in the U.K. but which offers only the two-stage product, is run by Aatif with his business partner and childhood friend, Mohammed Sheikh, who is a healthcare professional—specifically, a dentist. But the word “run” hardly describes things. Aatif and Sheikh are the company’s only two full-time employees, though product dispatch is handled by the same warehouse people who dispatch the parts for Aatif’s core business, performance cars, and they employ social media influencers and shisha industry bloggers for promotions and events such as shisha lounge demonstrations of ASUK’s products.

    Afzal Ready2Go is sold as two separate components. One of these comprises the tobacco, which attracts duty, while the other comprises the liquid enhancer, which doesn’t.

    A passion for tobacco

    One question that arises here is why a scientist and a dentist are involved with shisha, and the answer seems to be a passion for the product and its consumption, something that they did to relax in the evenings during their time at university. “We have a passion for shisha tobacco and have applied an incredible amount of science to the development of our product and making our tobacco the very best that it can be,” Aatif said in a note that he sent to me prior to our meeting. “We pride ourselves on our dedication to perfecting our bespoke blends.”

    Additionally, Aatif says that he became disenchanted with science because Britain did not look after its scientists. But after speaking with him, I came away with the impression that the lure of entrepreneurship would have drawn him away in any case because his performance cars business, something he started as a hobby while still at university, is also a passion as well as a business. To be running one business on the grounds that you have a passion for what you are selling might be seen as the sign of a dilettantish businessman, but to run two on the grounds of passion needs real commitment.

    But despite the passion, ASUK is run as a tight ship from which sales are made only to commercial lounges or through cashless, online retail transactions, e-commerce being another area of interest for Aatif. As well as having only two full-time employees, the company is run not out of some high-rent, big-city location but from of a space carved out of the car parts warehouse, which is based in Dundonald, a village in Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, but which is nevertheless only a 30 minutes’ drive from the Glasgow airport.

    Aatif says ASUK’s sales are rising month on month at both lounges and retail, so while the first shipment from India of his two-component product amounted to 60 kg and came by airfreight, shipments are now of 500 kg and arrive by sea. He is confident about the future of his business to the extent that he is currently looking for a bonded warehouse, which will save his company from having to pay duty up front.

    Although ASUK launched with a single paan-flavored product in London in January last year (and followed up with eight more flavors in 2019 and another four by February 2020), this isn’t the blind optimism of a newcomer. Aatif is well aware that shisha is a tobacco product that comes with all of the negative baggage that the category carries. Before ASUK was formed, he owned an architect-designed shisha lounge and is therefore able to act as an unofficial consultant to his lounge-owning customers, not only in respect of issues such as equipment hygiene and tax obligations but also on how to comply with regulations requiring that such lounges are 50 percent permanently open while providing a warm, welcoming environment, even during U.K. winters.

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    Health concerns into perspective

    This shisha lounge requirement points to an issue that I ignored at the start of this piece when talking about the pleasure-to-effort ratio of various tobacco products. In saying that cigarettes delivered the highest pleasure-to-effort ratio, I took no notice of the fact that, for a lot of smokers, health concerns will be taking the edge off the pleasures associated with cigarettes. And this raises the question of how shisha smoking shapes up within the risk debate, a question that has a slightly different focus in the U.K. where, apparently, smokers prefer a lighter smoke—one that delivers flavors with few, if any, tobacco notes.

    In writing the above, I have used the phrase “shisha smoking,” and in doing so, I have done only what Aatif did during our interview. But at one point, he said that shisha consumption was vaping rather than smoking. And there is truth in this because shisha tobacco is not ignited but heated—to a temperature of about 250 degrees Celsius in the case where modern charcoals are used. And this is useful in putting into perspective a widely circulated story that a one-hour shisha smoking session is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes. The equivalence, Aatif said, was in the volume of smoke not in the constituents of the smoke. And this is a perfectly reasonable assumption to make even though there is little scientific evidence to support it. Those constituents cannot possibly be the same as anybody who has smoked a cigarette would realize when trying to imagine the effect of smoking 100 cigarettes in an hour, even if such were possible.

    But there is a wider health issue at the moment—the coronavirus. If fear of Covid-19 reduces the footfall in U.K. shisha lounges significantly, that could cause a problem for a distributor of shisha, especially since shisha smoking is largely a social activity. Then again, perhaps people will merely switch to smoking shisha at home, and ASUK does also sell the wherewithal for that—hookah pipes, mouthpieces, charcoal …. And there are other opportunities that might present themselves. The Afzal Ready2Go product is at the moment exclusive to the U.K., but Aatif says that inquiries are coming from elsewhere. One door closes and another opens.

    George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.
  • Custom-Made

    Custom-Made

    Lukowa Tobacco has specialized in shisha tobacco from Poland.

    By Stefanie Rossel

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    Originally a centuries-old habit in the Middle East, smoking hookah, also known as a water pipe or shisha, has become a global trend in recent years. While still a niche product compared to combustible cigarettes, it has been growing continuously. According to a 2019 research report, smoking hookah is expected to show an annual compound growth rate of 18 percent over the next five years, reaching a market value of $1.89 billion by 2024, up from $730 million in 2019.

    The tobacco type required for use in water pipes is flue-cured Virginia (FCV) as that cultivated in the southeast of Poland. The leaf comes with a characteristic bright yellow color and a soft tissue. With a value of 0.8 percent to 1.5 percent, the variety is extremely low in nicotine. As manual harvesting prevails, FCV leaf remains largely free from damage associated with mechanical harvesting.

    FCV has a sugar content ranging from 25 percent to 30 percent. The sugar caramelizes during smoking, so it doesn’t hurt the throat, and smoking is “soft.” The sugar also works well as a carrier for molasses and flavors. Moreover, high sugar content ensures a nice puff. In contrast to other tobaccos, the leaf’s “blond” color persists if primary processing and threshing are done properly—even after it has been mixed with honey and flavors, a fact that is of particular importance to shisha smokers.

    Miroslaw Pekala

    Family-owned Lukowa Tobacco has specialized in providing high-quality shisha tobacco, selling only smaller quantities of tobacco for cigarette production. “Actually, we are quite a young company,” says Miroslaw Pekala, Lukowa Tobacco’s CEO. “We started our business in 2013 with only leaf purchasing and trading, but we quickly decided to develop our business and invest in our own factory. In 2015, we launched our primary, and from the very beginning, we started to produce and sell tobacco for shisha.”

    Located in the city of Lukowa in the Bilgorajski district, the company is situated at the heart of Poland’s tobacco country. With 5,000 hectares, the region is the main and largest tobacco growing area in Poland where in total 8,000 hectares are cultivated. Local farmers have longstanding expertise in growing the tobacco types used for water pipe smoking, and they have also established the necessary infrastructure, such as drying barns, to cater to increasing demand.

    “We are happy and lucky to have tobacco in Poland, which is excellent for the shisha industry,” Pekala points out. “As we all know, the cigarette market for factories like ours is going down, but the shisha market is developing from year to year.”

    2020_03-pujadas
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    Here to stay

    The Polish leaf market was quite different when Lukowa Tobacco entered it. When accessing the European Union (EU) in 2004, the country was cultivating 33,000 tons of tobacco annually. As in the rest of the common market, the Polish tobacco farmers’ community has been shrinking since. Today, it produces around 22,000 tons of tobacco per year.

    By 2015, the number of Polish tobacco companies had risen to more than 300. That year, the Polish government revised existing legislation and introduced new regulations. While some of the novel rules were enacted to make the country’s legislation compliant with EU requirements, others were domestic laws seeking to rationalize its tobacco industry.

    One requirement in particular became a hurdle to many: In order obtain a tobacco trading license, leaf dealing companies have to pay an annual guarantee to the customs office depending on their purchased tobacco volumes. For every 1,000 tons of tobacco traded per year, leaf merchants must pay pln1 million ($257,000)—a significant sum in a business characterized by small margins. As a result, many smaller companies closed or relocated to neighboring countries where legislation was less restrictive. Only 15 legally authorized leaf traders remain on the Polish market, among them the big international players—and Lukowa Tobacco. “We think all new regulation is very useful for serious companies who want to run the tobacco business legally,” Pekala comments.

    The company stands out by being one of only two leaf merchants in Poland that runs its own processing line; a third one has rented a processing facility. Lukowa Tobacco processes most of the tobacco for its own purposes. Third-party services account for only 10 percent of the company’s turnover.

    With its processed shisha tobacco, the company competes on a global level. “90 percent of our volumes are sold abroad,” explains Pekala. “The tobacco world is small; clients usually know the main primary processing factories from different countries and are well orientated with their offers.”

    He adds that high-quality production is a prerequisite to remain competitive in the company’s specialized niche. “Shisha clients to whom we mainly sell are very sensitive with regard to the quality, color and stem content. We must keep high standards of production and quality control. We also put a lot of efforts into cooperation with farmers and the agronomy in order to ensure high-quality leaf produced by farmers.” 

    In the production of hookah tobacco, Poland directly competes with France and Germany, which both have similarly favorable climates for the cultivation of Virginia leaf. Pekala says that his company also uses German and French seeds. “The tobacco is basically the same from those countries. Of course, it may vary because of the impact of weather conditions during the cultivation season. For sure, the advantage [of Polish shisha tobacco] is price because our farmers get lower prices for tobacco [compared] to France or Germany. It has the main impact on the final price and competition. However, Polish tobacco is not [as] well recognized all over the world like German or French [tobacco]. We still have a lot to do with the marketing of Polish tobacco. This is the mission of our company.”

  • Age restrictions enforced

    shisha smoking Jordan photo
    Photo by Jan Krömer

    Nineteen cafés were closed down in Amman, Jordan, in January after staff were caught serving argileh (shisha) to minors, according to a story in The Jordan Times citing ‘an informed source’.

    Serving argileh to minors is illegal under the Public Health Law, and the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is said to be inspecting rigorously facilities serving argileh.

    “Our campaigns are stricter now and based on inspectors’ observations and citizens’ complaints,” said Mervat Mheirat, director of GAM’s health supervision department. “We agree with authorities, including the Health Ministry, that serving argileh to minors… should be eradicated.”

    “This issue was not a priority in the past, but now we are more committed to cracking down on those who sell argileh to young people,” Mheirat added.

    According to the Jordan National Anti-Smoking Society, about 23 per cent of Jordanians between the ages of 13 and 15 smoke argileh.

    In previous remarks, Feras Hawari, director of the cancer control office at the King Hussein Cancer Center, said that a single session of argileh smoking could be as damaging to health as smoking between three and 10 packs of cigarettes.

    The coal used to heat an argileh was “extremely toxic”, releasing up to 100 parts per million carbon monoxide emissions, the physician told the Times, before adding that such emissions could cause asphyxiation among smokers and affect passive smokers.

  • Shisha smoking examined

    Shisha smoking examined

    Regular shisha smoking is associated with a reporting of substantially more respiratory symptoms in young adults, according to a story in The Jordan Times citing a new study conducted by the King Hussein Cancer Center’s (KHCC) Cancer Control Office (CCO).

    The study, funded by the KHCC, was conducted ‘because little is known about the early onset effects of regular shisha smoking’, the center said in a statement released on Wednesday.

    ‘Given that young populations are driving the spread of this popular trend, it is important to assess the early damage associated with regular shisha use [among] the youth,’ the statement added.

    The two-year pilot study, recently published in the journal Respiratory Medicine, measured the effect of habitual long-term water pipe use on pulmonary symptoms, pulmonary function, and cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in young men.

    The findings are drawn from data on 138 young healthy males between the ages of 18 and 26, where 69 shisha smokers were compared to 69 non-smokers.

    “Our findings were alarming at all levels of investigation,” the lead researcher Feras Hawari, chief of the pulmonary and critical care section and director of the CCO, was quoted in the statement as saying.

    “Young adults who smoke shisha regularly have a greater burden of respiratory symptoms than [do] adults of their age who do not smoke. These symptoms – cough, shortness of breath and sputum production – may not seem so severe, but they all are signs of a distressed respiratory system, and are shocking to see at such an early age,” Hawari said.

    “Our data also show that shisha smokers have impaired lung function readings that trend lower than those of non-smokers, and also have a reduced exercise capacity,” he added.

  • Haia cracks down on smokers in Saudi Arabia

    The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) is cracking down on people smoking shisha in public places, according to a story in the Arab News.

    Arab News recently visited a public park in Wadi Namir, Dariyah region, and found numerous people smoking shisha. This irritated many people who were at the park with their families and feared the shisha they were being exposed to was harmful to their health.

    After authorities received numerous complaints about shisha smoking in the park, members of Haia visited the park to prevent people from smoking. The organization confiscated shisha pipes and required smokers to sign written statements saying they would not smoke shisha in public.

    According to reports, it costs an estimated SR80,000 to SR250,000 to treat a person with cancer caused by smoking, and treating tobacco-related diseases has cost the Kingdom SR10 billion over the past 25 years.

  • Disposable shisha pipes mandatory in Dubai

    The Dubai Municipality has implemented a new hygiene rule making it mandatory for shisha outlets in Dubai to use disposable pipes in place of traditional shisha hoses. The rule, which was issued in accordance with the articles of the federal law number 15 of 2009 on tobacco control, is aimed at protecting shisha smokers from coming into contact with infectious diseases.

    The municipality’s Public Health and Safety Department has issued a circular to cafes and restaurants that serve shishas, asking them to replace traditional shisha pipes with disposable ones for one-time use by Oct. 15.

    According to the department’s director, Marwan Al Mohammed, recent studies have found that shared use of shisha pipes can lead to a spread of several fungal, viral and bacterial infections, including herpes simplex virus-1, hepatitis B, bacterial meningitis, tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.