Except from article:

Altria also announced today that Michael E. Szymanczyk, 63, has decided to retire after 23 years of distinguished service to the company, including four years as Chairman and CEO of Altria and 12 years as President and CEO of Philip Morris USA (PM USA). The Board has elected Martin J. Barrington, 58, to serve as Altria’s Chairman and CEO, effective upon Mr. Szymanczyk’s retirement following the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 17, 2012. The Board also has elected Mr. Barrington to Altria’s Board, effective immediately.

News worthy of posting! Thoughts? Stories? Reflections?

New Partnership January 27, 2012

Okono A/S, an affiliate of Fertin Pharma A/S, has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Altria Group Inc., to develop innovative, non-combustible nicotine-containing products for adult tobacco consumers. This new product initiative combines the product development and manufacturing capabilities of Okono and its affiliates with the expertise of the Altria of companies.  Altria Group, Inc. is the parent company of Philip Morris USA (PM USA), U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (UST) and John Middleton.

Very interesting development worthy of posting! What are your thoughts? Another move that furthers my belief that the world of tobacco has and is and will change to meet the needs of those who enjoy nicotine satisfaction.

• Conference Sessions will deliver the latest news and trends that are driving the tobacco industry.  Business insights will be delivered by professionals from within the tobacco community. Business Owners and Managers can expect to take away information and ideas that will help them work smarter and increase their revenues.

• Show Attendees will view thousands of tobacco and tobacco products in the exhibit hall – many of which will be New Product Launches.

• Buyers can take advantage of the hundreds of Show Specials offered by most exhibitors.

• The Spin & Win Prize Giveaway offers exhibitors an opportunity to donate their product as prizes that Buyers can take home with them!

• Don’t miss the Opening Night Reception on Wednesday evening 5:30 – 7:30 in Ballroom E at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel.  Door Prizes, Music, Open Bar and Great Food!

• The centerpiece of the show is The Cigar Lounge.  Open during show hours, it offers comfortable seating and complimentary adult beverages.  This is a wonderful area to meet with industry friends to catch up on business or just sit back and rest from the day’s activities.

• The International Outreach Program continues as we expand marketing and promotion efforts to attract more buyers and suppliers from outside of the U.S. to participate.

Who’s going? Why are you going? What are the important takeaways from the show? What did you learn? What did you like? What would you change? See you there if you’re going!

http://news.yahoo.com/nicotine-therapy-doesnt-help-smokers-quit-study-173046252.html

By Arlene Paredes | December 20, 2011 8:06 PM EST – www.ibtimes.com

Virtually nicotine-free cigarettes could help heavy smokers to quit the habit, according to an Auckland research.

An Auckland University study has found it is possible to smoke your way to quitting by using virtually nicotine-free cigarettes, the New Zealand Herald reported.

While almost one in five (18 per cent) current smokers say they decided to quit smoking in response to advertising campaigns, 33 per cent say they actually light up in response to anti-smoking advertising and 29 per cent of smokers look the other way.

Heavily addicted smokers offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and the cigarettes with hardly any nicotine have a higher success rate at quitting, than those given just NRT patches, gum or lozenges, the study noted.

“It’s an exciting finding,” lead researcher Dr Natalie Walker, of the university’s clinical trials research unit, told the Herald Monday night.

Participants who were undergoing intervention in the study smoked the low-nicotine Quest brand of tobacco cigarettes. They were free to smoke anytime with their six-week supply.

Dr. Walker said the smokers wound up weaning themselves off the cigarettes because Quest simply did not give the same satisfaction that regular tobacco gave the smokers. While it gave the same sensation in the sense that they were still smoking, the missing kick from regular tobacco eventually made the participants lose interest in smoking.

“Part of smoking is the behavioural component of putting something in their mouth and feeling the smoke in their mouth and feeling it come down into their chest – all that ritual around smoking. These cigarettes help deal with that component… The good thing about it is that people naturally stop using them … after six weeks, or even earlier for some people,” she said.

Dr Walker said the study was “a bit controversial, because people think, ‘How can you give people cigarettes to quit smoking, it doesn’t make sense’, but … these have such a very low level of nicotine.”

“They are equally as harmful as any other cigarette, except they are less addictive … but they are very clearly addressing that behavioural aspect,” Dr. Walker explained.

Low-nicotine cigarettes such as Quest are not commercially available to New Zealand smokers. With the results of Dr. Walker’s study out, there could be some changes in the existing policies.

The Herald reported it is part of the Government’s goal for New Zealand to be “smokefree” by 2025. To achieve this, the Health Research Council has awarded $5 million to research work which will investigate policies such as introducing low-nicotine, lower-tax cigarettes, and limiting and progressively cutting the amount of tobacco which can be sold, and any other strategies that could drive the heavy smokers away from their unhealthy habit.

Very interesting report! I find the response to advertising as something that is very interesting. I have seen other reports that have similar findings. The old adage “tell them not to do it and they will want to do it anyway”. Thoughts? Again very interesting study!

UPDATE 1-EU promises Sweden it will review snus ban
By Veronica Ek
434 words
7 December 2011
10:09
Reuters News
LBA
English
(c) 2011 Reuters Limited
(Adds trade minister comments)
STOCKHOLM, Dec 7 (Reuters) – The European Commission has promised Sweden it will take another look at its ban of the tobacco product snus, which is allowed in Sweden but banned elsewhere in the European Union, the Swedish trade minister said on Wednesday.
Swedish Match is Europe’s biggest producer of snus, or wet snuff, which is put under the upper lip and is mostly sold as small pouches of tobacco.
Trade minister Ewa Bjorling said she had met EU Health Commissioner John Dalli and discussed the results of a survey of EU states about current tobacco laws.
“What I believe is most important is that you base your reasoning on scientific facts. That is what I try to tell Dalli, and I ask the question: Why do you still want to have a ban on Swedish wet snuff when there are other snuff products on the market in the EU, for example Pakistani snuff?,” Bjorling told Reuters.
This was the second time she raised the snus issue with Dalli.
“I think he was listening in a different way this time. The first time he dismissed it simply saying their goal is to get everything away for health reasons,” Bjorling said.
Sweden says it has a lower proportion of deaths from lung cancer than in other EU states and a lower level of smokers.
Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter has reported that its own examination of the answers to the Commission’s survey showed that a majority of people in member states wanted to end the snus ban, even if most members states supported keeping it.
The Commission is expected to propose a new tobacco products law during the spring next year and released the results of a survey in July of attitudes to the current law, including the ban on snus.
The survey, which is on the Commission’s website, was carried out by asking questions to EU citizens, industry representatives, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government representatives.
Most answers came from Italy and Poland, and the Commission noted that Italian tobacconists had organised a campaign to encourage submissions to the survey.
The survey showed that EU citizens and industry representatives were in favour of lifting the snus ban, while most EU states and NGOs wanted it maintained.
The main markets for Swedish Match’s snus products are Sweden, Norway and the United States.
Swedish Match shares rose 1.6 percent to 224 Swedish crowns on Wednesday.

MORE PROGRESS! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MATTER?

The product line — Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs –do not require spitting, which could be a deciding factor among female tobacco users. According to a report in the Winston-Salem Journal, females represented 45 percent of all adult smokers who bought Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs during September and October. Of all adult tobacco users, 31 percent were women.

By comparison, the news outlet reported that adult males make up 85 percent of moist snuff and Camel Snus users.

R.J. Reynolds’ dissolvable line is currently being sold in Denver and Charlotte, N.C. The first round of testing took place in Columbus, Ohio Indianapolis and Portland, Ore.

“We have seen a noticeable appeal and interest of the dissolvable products with adult female tobacco consumers,” Reynolds spokesman David Howard told the newspaper.

Stephen Pope, an industry analyst and managing partner of Spotlight Ideas in England, said Reynolds may have discovered a niche with adult female tobacco users. “Clearly the figures for the dissolvable products make for fascinating reading and actually show that here could be a product that, if handled correctly, could well offer an opportunity for a special female-targeted product that could be as significant as Virginia Slims was for Philip Morris,” he said.

The dissolvable products “could prove to be the first viable smokeless tobacco products for females,” stated Bonnie Herzog, an analyst with Wells Fargo Securities LLC.

Reynolds has not said when a national rollout of the products will occur.

As the popularity of dissolvable tobacco grows, tobacco companies are sure to draw the attention of advocacy groups. Jeff Middleswart, portfolio manager for the Vice Fund of USA Mutuals, said having the Camel and Marlboro brands in dissolvable products is likely to intensify the debate among advocacy groups. One set says that smokeless tobacco products serve as gateways for teenagers to cigarettes; the other set sees the products as a way to reduce the risk of tobacco use compared with cigarettes.

“Anything tobacco will create criticism — it’s just the way of the world,” Middleswart said. “A new product that has the potential to gain market share is going to be a target.”

John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said he found it “disturbing that any smokeless tobacco product is now becoming popular among women.” His concern is that the dissolvable products may encourage women to use smokeless tobacco for the first time.

Dissolvable tobacco products have caught the eye of the Food and Drug Administration. The agency gained the authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) took up the issue at its July meeting, the first step toward issuing regulations.

Colorado state officials have also put dissolvable tobacco products under the microscope. Just a few weeks after the TPSAC members began to take a closer look, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment held a hearing to begin their investigation into the products and their possible dangers, as CSNews Online previously reported.

Interesting information! What are your thoughts on this type of offering?

Sales of smokeless tobacco products keep increasing and convenience store operators are enjoying the ride.

But keeping that graph line headed north means keeping a wary eye on proposed federal regulations, keeping sets fresh, properly allocating shelf space, rotating product, keeping tabs on expiration dates and weeding out slow sellers.

Sounds like a full-time job. From a sales and legislative perspective what 2012 holds for retailers of smokeless tobacco remains a bit of a mystery.
“The legislative sessions really don’t start until January so in terms of possible tax increases or other restrictions, we won’t know anything until we see what legislation is introduced,” said Thomas Briant, executive director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) in Minneapolis.

Beyond that, with Election Day now in the past, tobacco is unlikely to be a rallying point for politicians looking to fill state coffers. In fact, only two states passed increases in smokeless tobacco product taxes this year.

“I think states are realizing they’ve hit a point of diminishing returns in an attempt to continue to raise more revenue from tobacco products’ excise taxes,” Briant explained. “They’ve realized that states budgets are possibly not as in the red as they were during the great recession, so the need for additional revenue may not be as great.”

Exactly what all of that means for the months ahead, however, remains anyone’s guess. “I am an attorney, so I never predict,” Briant said. “But what can be said with certainty is that this was a very good year with few tax increases on smokeless tobacco products.”

Operator’s Opinion
“From an operations or a legislative standpoint, no one asks the convenience store operator for his opinion,” lamented Amer Hawatmeh, president of St. Louis-based St. George Oil, operator of six Coast to Coast convenience stores. “From my perspective, as I look at the tobacco products, the only thing I concern myself with is, is it guaranteed? This is becoming a bigger and bigger issue with tobacco companies. Tobacco used to go stale and they would guarantee it. They would pick it up and send you fresh product. They don’t do that anymore. Now it’s not only a large factor in your inventory, it’s also a big cost factor—you double the cost factor because when it stales you’re throwing it in the garbage can.”

After the product guarantee, Hawatmeh wants to know whether or not the manufacturer is advertising it, and how much space he’ll need to
allocate to it.

“We obviously want to give all brands a fair shake in case a particular SKU starts to generate strong sales,” Hawatmeh said. “With brands that retail at $2.99 with a 30% margin, it’s a good return on investment. That brings us back to the first two questions: is it guaranteed and how much space and how many dollars do I allocate to that inventory?”

Hawatmeh reported that the new Skoal Blend line is doing well in his stores. “It’s all under $3 for a roll. You’re seeing that the chewers—the guys who were buying the roll for $5 a can—are switching to this line because when you go from $5 to $3, that’s a nice savings,” he said. “And it’s the same product line with the same name on the can. It’s just called Skoal Blend.”

That line and others will receive a full opportunity to fly at Coast to Coast stores. “We’re trying them all and we’re pushing them pretty heavily,” Hawatmeh said. “We will push anything that will create value for a customer who will consistently buy it. That’s what it’s all about.”

Counting on Consumers
While the number of places adult consumers can use tobacco has dwindled, Hawatmeh said he sees little in the way of hesitation over health concerns among tobacco consumers in general.

“Smokers are going to be smokers. The only thing they do is smoke different stuff or chew different things that save them money. These people, they know the risk factors that exist out there, the reality of what’s going on, and they’re not stopping,” Hawatmeh said. “The sales have not slowed down. All it’s done is switched over. That’s why all the companies keep coming out with more and different products, so that they can rename them in order to save money on taxes and keep the sales going.”

In fact, Coast to Coast stores have had disappointing results with products designed to help smokers quit. “One of the things that we aimed to do was bring in all the nicotine chews and other cessation products for all the people trying to stop smoking, but we were just getting stuck with inventory. The consumer who wants to smoke is going to smoke,” Hawatmeh said. “I thought sales of tobacco substitutes would go through the roof, especially when you’re competing against the big-box guys who are trying to get a bigger margin on it. It just wasn’t working for us.”

What Hawatmeh and his team have learned about their tobacco customers is that they are not concerned with health risks. “Smokers are far more worried about their freedoms being taken away from them than anything else,” he said.

And what do the government freedom takers have up their sleeves now? “Who knows?” Hawatmeh said. “Every day somebody gets a new itch and they create a new law, and every law seems aimed at prohibiting us from selling tobacco to adult consumers.”

Driving New Business
Despite government interference and higher prices, the tobacco category’s greatest strength lies in its loyal consumer base.

“The OTP business, especially the moist smokeless business, is a very, very strategic one in that the consumer has tremendous repetitiveness,” said Lou Maiellano, consulting partner for Taz Marketing & Consulting Group in Sevierville, Tenn. “That consumer is very strong in the convenience store industry. I’ve seen statistics that say they spend 2-3 times more than the average c-store customer. It is absolutely one of the best customers in a c-store.”

While total tobacco sales over the last quarter have more or less stalled, the OTP segment is up strongly. Maiellano’s big concern is over declining margins. “That is not good,” he said. “Part of that is because of the competitiveness that’s out there.”

The smart move for retailers looking to build sales is to do quarterly reviews and make adjustments to the offering as needed.

“Don’t be afraid to make changes on variety or pricing. It’s still a business that changes rather quickly,” said Maiellano, who also recommended that c-store operators pay strong attention to their pouch business. “Eight years ago I started pushing this segment, and today it has become almost an understatement. The pouch business in the moist smokeless category is over double digits, with probably a 10- 11% share.”