Tag: United States

  • Real Cost campaign unreal

    Real Cost campaign unreal

    The US Food and Drug Administration is expanding its ‘Real Cost’ propaganda campaign to include attacks on vaping, according to a story by Dr. Carl L. Phillips for the Daily Vaper.

    That campaign currently consisted of anti-scientific attacks on smoking and smokeless-tobacco use, targeting teenagers with gory images and misleading claims, Philipps said.

    While vaping was a tougher target for such propaganda, it was expected that the FDA would continue with this approach.

    Phillips reported that the FDA had disclosed one preview of the anti-vaping campaign.

    The introduction inaccurately described the ‘Real Cost’ campaign as ‘educational’ and announced that, ‘The campaign is now expanding its focus on [sic] the dangers of vaping’.

    It appeared that the FDA would, predictably, be focusing on nicotine. The introduction went on to assert, ‘We will show teens how nicotine can reprogram their brains, causing them to crave more and more’.

    “The dishonesty would be astonishing to anyone not already familiar with US government anti-tobacco propaganda,” Phillips said.

    The story is at: http://dailyvaper.com/2017/11/14/fda-releases-new-nonsensical-anti-vaping-ad/.

  • HNB in wider distribution

    HNB in wider distribution

    US-based Vapor Tobacco Manufacturing (VTM) says that Tobacco Superstores, one of the largest tobacco store chains in the US, and Tobacco Town are offering its ‘3T® organic-technology heat-not-burn products’ in all their Arkansas stores.

    In a press note issued yesterday, VTM said that 3T® Organic was the first and only HNB product available on the US market.

    ‘Customer feedback shows that 3T® Organic heat-not-burn devices are user-friendly, durable, economical, and have a “real” cigarette taste,’ VTM said in its note.

    ‘This is due to the Vapor Tobacco Manufacturing’s 3T® Organic heat-not-burn device which uses their patented liquefied tobacco from organic tobacco leaves, which is heated not burned, unlocking the rich, true tobacco flavor that is loved.’

    3T® Organic Rechargeable was described as the only electronic nicotine delivery system that used USDA-certified organic ingredients.

  • Topless protest

    Topless protest

    A recent meeting of the Hamptons Health and Safety Board (HHSB) was disrupted when a large group of angry motorists arrived to protest against recently extended restrictions on smoking, according to a story in Dan’s Papers, Southampton, New York, US. The Hamptons police department was called in to keep the meeting from getting out of hand.

    At issue for the protestors was a new rule banning smoking in ‘topless’ cars.

    “When I initially read about the ban, I thought it must be a misprint – I thought they were probably eliminating smoking in topless bars, not topless cars!” Randy Talbac, head of a local smokers’ rights group, was said to have told the assembled meeting.  “And since there aren’t any topless bars that I know of in the area, I wasn’t too upset. But then it turned out it really was about cars – convertibles, that is – and it’s outrageous.”

    The ban on smoking in cars with no tops, whether they are convertibles with the roof down or jeep-type vehicles that have no tops, was said to have come about as a measure to cut down on second-hand smoke exposure.

    Christopher Escopillo, the co-chair of the HHSB, explained the genesis of the new rule. “We were getting a lot of concerned citizens coming to us, explaining how they would be sitting in Hamptons traffic behind some guy in a sporty convertible, with his top down, puffing on some big, noxious stogie,” he said. “From their point of view, they are forced to inhale unhealthy air for however long they’re stuck behind the guy. So we decided it was up to the HHSB to do something about it.”

    Talbac and his supporters were not impressed by this reasoning, and for a while the situation looked like it might turn violent.

    In the end, however, cooler heads prevailed, and Talbac vowed to return with a lawyer and fight the new rule in court.

  • E-cigs – what’s not to like?

    Switching from cigarettes to vaping products saves US users an average of about $1,500 a year, according to a story by Laura Kelly for the Washington Times, citing the results of an online poll of daily electronic-cigarette users.

    Packs of cigarettes range in price from around $6 to $14 depending on the state and their taxes, and ‘heavy smokers’ were said to consume a pack a day.

    Users who switched to e-cigarettes reported saving an average of $1,416.60 a year, according to the online poll conducted by LendEDU, an online marketplace that helps students refinance their loans.

    The poll surveyed 1,000 vapers and asked them to gauge how much money they spent on their vaping products and if they saved money by making the switch.

    At least 71 percent responded that switching to vaping had helped them save money, while 19.6 percent said it hadn’t helped them save money and 9.4 percent said they didn’t use traditional tobacco products previously.

    Respondents said they typically spent $80 on a one-time purchase of a vape device and around $60 on vaping consumables per month. On top of these purchases, between $6 and $9 was spent each month on unspecified things related to vaping.

  • FDA calls iQOS meeting

    FDA calls iQOS meeting

    The US Food and Drug Administration has published a Federal Register notice announcing a meeting of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) to discuss modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) applications submitted by Philip Morris Products (PMP).

    The meeting, which is scheduled for January 24-25 at the FDA’s White Oak campus, was the subject of a Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) press note.

    The committee is due to discuss scientific issues related to the MRTP applications submitted by PMP for its iQOS system and several Marlboro HeatSticks products, which are currently under scientific review by the FDA.

    Requests for the presentation of oral comments at the TPSAC meeting have to be submitted by December 27.

    Written comments have to be submitted by January 4.

    More information is available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/11/09/2017-24379/tobacco-products-scientific-advisory-committee-notice-of-meeting

  • Nicotine a ‘fascinating drug’

    Nicotine a ‘fascinating drug’

    Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of 29 sites participating in a US national study to determine whether a daily transdermal nicotine patch will have a positive effect on attention and early memory impairment in older adults diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), according to a medicalxpress.com story.
    More than eight million people in the US are currently diagnosed with MCI, a condition that affects memory or other thinking skills. Recent evidence shows that adults with MCI are at a higher risk for subsequently developing Alzheimer’s disease.
    MCI is diagnosed when memory problems become more apparent than would be expected in normal aging. Symptoms include memory loss, problems with attention, as well as mild difficulties learning and retaining new information.
    People participating in the Memory Improvement Through Nicotine Dosing (MIND) study will participate in 12 visits over a two-year period at one of the 29 sites.
    In an earlier study, adults with MCI who were prescribed the nicotine patch for six months had improved attention and memory, and there were no serious side effects or signs of nicotine withdrawal.
    “These results were encouraging and justify this larger study, funded by the National Institute on Aging,” said VUMC’s Paul Newhouse, MD, Jim Turner professor of cognitive disorders and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. Newhouse is the national director of the study.
    “I am convinced that we will find a way to help improve early memory loss and make a real difference in people’s lives. In this study, we have an inexpensive, widely available potential treatment.”
    Nicotine, a natural plant alkaloid, was a “fascinating drug with interesting properties,” Newhouse said. “People think of it as a potentially noxious substance, but it’s a plant-derived medication just like a lot of other medications.”
    The medicalxpress.com story is at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-11-explores-nicotine-patch-mild-cognitive.html.

  • Universal’s volume sales up

    Universal’s volume sales up

    In reporting Universal Corporation’s results for the six months to the end of September, chairman, president, and CEO, George C. Freeman, III, said that during the second half of the company’s current fiscal year, sales of its African tobaccos would be impacted by reduced Burley production volumes in Africa, which mainly shipped in the third and fourth fiscal quarters.

    “Less African Burley leaf was grown this fiscal year due to excess production and low grower prices in fiscal year 2017 and unfavorable weather conditions this fiscal year,” he was quoted as saying.

    “Although we still expect our total shipments to be weighted to the second half of the fiscal year, we currently anticipate modestly lower total lamina sales volumes for fiscal year 2018.

    “We are estimating that this fiscal year’s global Burley production declines will recover in next year’s crop.”

    Meanwhile, Universal reported that net income for the six months ended September 30, was $29.7 million, or $1.16 per diluted share, compared with $19.8 million, or $0.54 per diluted share for the same period of the previous fiscal year.

    Operating income for the six months ended September 30, of $51.5 million, was increased by $16.2 million on that of the first half of the previous fiscal year.

    “Our results for the six months ended September 30, 2017, were in line with our expectations and reflected slightly higher total sales volumes and lower selling, general, and administrative costs,” said Freeman.

    “In our second fiscal quarter, we continued to see the benefits of higher current crop sales and processing volumes and lower factory unit costs from the recovery in leaf production volumes this year in Brazil.”

  • PMI to webcast presentation

    PMI to webcast presentation

    Philip Morris International is due to host a live audio webcast at www.pmi.com/2017morganstanley of a presentation and question-and-answer session by CFO Jacek Olczak at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference starting at 13.40 Eastern Time on November 14.

    Olczak will be joined at the event by Martin King, president of PMI’s Asia region,

    As previously announced, Olczak will, on January 1, become COO, responsible for the deployment of global strategy and the delivery of results for combustible and reduced-risk products, and Martin King will become CFO.

    The webcast, which will be in listen-only mode, will provide live audio of the entire PMI session.

    The audio webcast will be available also on iOS or Android devices by downloading PMI’s free Investor Relations Mobile Application at www.pmi.com/irapp.

    An archived copy of the webcast will be available until 17.00 on December 13 at www.pmi.com/2017morganstanley.

    Presentation slides will be available at www.pmi.com/2017morganstanley.

  • AOI sales increased

    AOI sales increased

    The value of Alliance One International’s sales during its second quarter to the end of September, at US$447.3 million, was increased by 14.9 percent on that of the second quarter to the end of September 2016.

    The increase was said to have been due primarily to the production of a larger South American crop and a 12.4 percent increase in average sales price due to favorable product mix.

    At the same time, gross profit increased by 37.9 percent to US$69.3 million and gross profit as a percentage of sales improved to 15.5 percent from 12.9 percent last year.

    Net income was US$1.0 million and adjusted EBITDA improved 40.5 percent to US$49.9 million.

    In announcing the company’s results for the second quarter and first six months, president and CEO Pieter Sikkel said that AOI had achieved solid sales growth during the second quarter, and that volume was increasing as crop sizes had returned to more normal levels in many key markets.

    Sales were planned to improve throughout the fiscal year, with each subsequent quarter building on the prior, based on the timing of crops and processing in the growing regions.

    “Through the first half of this year total kilos sold increased 2.1 percent to 153.2 million kilos and sales increased 11.3 percent to $724.3 million this year versus last year as a result of the larger South American crop, increased customer demand primarily from Asia and Europe, and a 9.5 percent increase in average sales price due to favorable product mix,” said Sikkel.

    “Lamina as a percentage of total sales was 14.2 percent higher when compared to last year. Additionally, the 2017 Brazilian crop now being sold is of higher quality than the El Niño-affected 2016 crop.

    “Gross profit increased by 16.2 percent to $98.0 million for the first six months of this year and gross profit as a percentage of sales improved to 13.5 percent from 13.0 percent last year.

    “These improvements were driven by sales that increased by 11.3 percent while total costs of goods and services sold only increased 10.6 percent.”

    Sikkel said that the company was implementing initiatives that should grow its business platform, while continuing to enhance its sustainability and track-and-trace capabilities.

    In addition, the company had recently made a further investment to expand its e-liquid capability and footprint established initially with its investment in Purilum, a leader in e-liquids and flavoring. Purilum had won the 2017 Golden Leaf Award for the company most committed to quality, affirming AOI’s commitment to high quality next generation products and their future.

    “Future prospects for our business are bright and we are excited about developing and maximizing future opportunities that should drive improved profitability and enhanced shareholder value,” Sikkel said.

    “We are taking measured steps to strengthen our preferred supplier role with customers, further developing our position as a key supplier for both traditional requirements as well as next generation reduced risk products.”

  • Retailers look to future

    Retailers look to future

    US vape stores are enjoying renewed optimism about the future following the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to postpone key regulatory deadlines, a recent survey has shown.

    The independent survey of more than 1,000 US vape stores was conducted by electronic-cigarette industry data provider ECigIntelligence.

    The responses showed a 31 percent increase in vape store operators having a positive outlook on the future of the vaping market in the US, ECigIntelligence said in a press note.

    Before the FDA announcement in July, most vape stores had arrested expansion plans and cut back on general spending, but since the announcement, many retailers were planning the expansion of business or stock levels.

    Seventy seven percent of retailers were feeling some industry optimism, while more than 10 percent had no plans to take any action as yet and were awaiting further regulations before deciding.

    ‘Average monthly revenue per store shows no change compared with 2016, at around $27,000,’ the note said. ‘While the ratio of mods and starter kits have increased, the e-liquid share of revenue has decreased, which reflects the increasing price pressure on e-liquids and the growing popularity of larger bottle sizes.

    ‘Also, the number of stores that offer in-house e-liquid has increased from last year. For those that offer both in-house and third-party brands, in-house e-liquids on average account for more than half of their e-liquid revenue.’