Tag: bat

  • New BAT Boss Calls for ‘Better’ Vaping Rules

    New BAT Boss Calls for ‘Better’ Vaping Rules

    Tadeu Marroco says issues such as youth use continue as many countries adopt a tougher stance on vaping products.

    The newly appointed head of British American Tobacco has expressed a desire for governments to apply more “better regulations” towards vaping products and other tobacco alternatives, as the public debate over them is growing in intensity and becoming an issue for the industry.

    Tadeu Marroco told the Financial Times that the FTSE 100-listed owner of Lucky Strike and Dunhill was “very keen” to work with regulators to address problems such as vaping’s use among teenagers and its environmental impact.

    “We need to have better regulations. We cannot ignore the benefit of migrating smokers out of cigarettes, but being unregulated, we have issues related to youth access and the environment,” Marroco said.

    “The problem is that this is a phenomenon that has grown so fast and the regulators are always catching up. But there are clearly opportunities for us to improve the level playing field.”

    Since Marroco took the helm in May of this year, there has been an increased push around the globe to restrict flavored e-cigarettes, due in part to advice from anti-nicotine groups and World Health Organization. India, Thailand, and Argentina have all implemented full bans on all forms of vaping products.

    NHS guidelines in the UK suggest vapes can help people stop smoking although they also state that the activity “is not completely risk-free”. The government said in April it would offer 1 million smokers vape starter kits. Selling vapes to under-18s is illegal.

  • BAT Launches New Vuse 800 Disposable in Korea

    BAT Launches New Vuse 800 Disposable in Korea

    BAT Rothmans, the Korean unit of BAT, debuted Vuse 800 in Korea, marking the first launch in Asia, according to The Korea Herald.

    The battery-powered e-liquid cigarette product allows up to 800 puffs without charging. There are four flavor options available.

    In the U.S., Vuse accounts for nearly half the market.

    Vuse’s U.S. market share declined from 42.2 percent to 41.8 percent, compared with Juul declining from 26.1 percent to 26 percent.

    In March of this year, Altria Group announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Njoy Holdings for approximately $2.75 billion in cash.

    Altria said it had multiple sources of funding for the deal, including cash from a $2.7 billion agreement with Philip Morris International last year for IQOS. 

    A day before the Njoy announcement, Altria Group announced it had exchanged its entire investment in Juul Labs for a non-exclusive, irrevocable global license to certain of Juul’s heated tobacco intellectual property.

  • Italy Investigating BAT, Amazon for Hyper X2 Ads

    Italy Investigating BAT, Amazon for Hyper X2 Ads

    Italian regulators announced an investigation into British American Tobacco and Amazon over what regulators say is potentially misleading advertising for the Glo Hyper X2 heated-tobacco product, the Italian Competition Authority said on Tuesday.

    “It is not made clear, or it is inadequately stated” in the advertising that Glo Hyper X2 is a nicotine-based product, and that it is “intended for an adult audience”, the authority said.

    It also said it had seen the Hyper X2 was being marketed as “nicotine-free.”

    “The omission and/or deceptiveness of this essential information” in advertising could influence consumers’ decisions and expose them, “minors in particular”, to the risk of unknowingly damaging their health, the regulator said.

    Amazon Services Europe and Amazon Italia Customer Services were included in the investigation because the tobacco heating device is sold on the online platform.

    Reuters found an offer for Glo Hyper X2 on Amazon Prime Italy presenting the product as “the cigarette alternative, a smokeless and odor-free experience, nicotine-free”.

    An accompanying image had a “no under 18s” symbol.

    A spokesperson for BAT said the company was committed to “responsible marketing”, in addition to the requirements set by local applicable laws.

    “We are available to cooperate with the Italian Competition Authority to ensure a swift conclusion of these proceedings”, the spokesperson said.

  • BAT Partners with CBD Giant Charlotte’s Web

    BAT Partners with CBD Giant Charlotte’s Web

    BAT has partnered with CBD firm Charlotte’s Web to develop a drug for an undisclosed neurological condition, reports Bloomberg. The partnership is part of BAT’s plan to diversify away from cigarettes.  

    A joint venture between BAT’s subsidiary AJNA BioSciences PBC and Charlotte’s Web, which BAT invested in last year, plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a treatment made from hemp extract. AJNA invested $10 million in the deal. Charlotte’s Web and AJNA each own 40 percent of the entity while BAT controls the remaining stake, according to a statement.

  • BAT Design Chief Says Users, Simplicity are Main Focus

    BAT Design Chief Says Users, Simplicity are Main Focus

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Ken Kim, BAT’s design chief, is the first Korean to oversee the design process of all of BAT’s tobacco products, focusing on simplicity and the user experience, reports The Korea Herald.

    “My priority when designing heating tobacco products was that the item should become one of the three products that consumers can carry with them all the time, along with a phone and wallet,” said Kim during an interview.

    Kim said that with the latest product, Glo Hyper X2, he and his design team focused on the smallest details, like how consumers with different finger lengths could comfortably close the product’s iris shutter and the most convenient shape for switches used in iris shutters.

    “I also held a lot of meetings with the engineers to best design products that have the size and width to fit comfortably in consumers’ hands,” Kim added. “As such, we put a lot of effort into researching how to best design our products. We wondered if consumers will actually take notice of such efforts but concluded that for their satisfaction, this was a duty we must complete.”

    Kim highlighted the strengths of products with simple, refined designs. “Designs for a product is only complete when its function part has been fully supplemented,” said Kim.

  • Leaked BAT Data Claims Most UK Disposables are Illegal

    Leaked BAT Data Claims Most UK Disposables are Illegal

    Media outlets are reporting that BAT sent vaping wholesalers testing results that claim that nearly all major disposable vaping brands in the UK not produced by a major tobacco manufacturer contain illegal volumes of e-liquid.

    Senior wholesaler sources leaked nearly 50 pages of BAT product testing data to betterRetailing, along with a letter from BAT urging wholesalers to stop selling products it claims are failing to comply with the 2ml e-liquid limit. A distributor of many of the brands named denied the claims.

    In a letter sent to wholesalers by BAT UK managing director Fredrik Svensson, seen by betterRetailing, the supplier said it had commissioned “independently accredited laboratory” testing on Elf Bar 600 products purchased from supermarkets and independent retailers between 6 September 2021 and 7 March 2023.

    The evidence revealed that the tested products “contained significantly more than the legal limit of 2ml of nicotine-containing e-liquid from 2.76ml to 3.88ml, with an average overfill of 58 percent.”

    Testing was also conducted at the same lab on Lost Mary, Found Mary, IVG Bar, Klik Klak, SKE Crystal, Smok Mbar Pro and Solo disposable vapes. Test results for all these brands showed illegal levels of e-liquid.

    Together, the brands account for nearly all disposable vaping sales in independent shops by both revenue and volume.

    BAT’s letter urged: “As a responsible trading partner, we trust that you are taking appropriate steps to ensure that you are not supplying non-compliant products and that you will be urgently reviewing the supply of any products you stock, particularly those which our testing demonstrates do not comply with the TRPR [The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016].”

    Elfbar voluntarily pulled its products from UK shelves after finding its products did not meet legal requirements.

    Recently, another Elfbar brand was pulled from UK store shelves after finding the products surpassed the legal limit for e-liquid volumes.

  • Former BAT Group Head to Lead Charlotte’s Web Board

    Former BAT Group Head to Lead Charlotte’s Web Board

    Credit: Opolja

    Charlotte’s Web Holdings, a supplier of cannabidiol (CBD) hemp extract wellness products, has appointed Jonathan P. Atwood to the company’s board of directors, according to PR Newswire. Atwood is currently the group head of business communications for BAT and is responsible for BAT’s external, internal and corporate brand communications. Atwood was designated as a board nominee by BAT in connection with its November purchase of convertible debenture in Charlotte’s Web.

    Atwood held senior management positions at Unilever, most recently leading global supply chain communications. Prior to that, he led sustainability and corporate communications for Unilever North America. Atwood is an advocate of sustainability and has worked closely with B Corps companies.

    Charlotte’s Web is the only publicly traded CBD B Corp-certified company.

    “We welcome Jonathan as a valuable addition to the board where he can support our international and sustainability ambitions. We look forward to working closely together on our mutually shared interests,” said John Held, chairman of the board of Charlotte’s Web.

    Atwood’s appointment brings the total number of directors on the Charlotte’s Web board to six.

    Last year, Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc. became the first company to score a CBD sponsorship with Major League Baseball.

  • RJ Reynolds Wants Enforcement of Disposables

    RJ Reynolds Wants Enforcement of Disposables

    Credit: Casimiro

    RAI Services Company submitted a citizen petition asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to adopt a new enforcement policy directed at “illegally marketed disposable electronic nicotine delivery system” (ENDS) products.

    The petition was filed on Feb. 6 and posted by the FDA to Regulations.gov for public comment on Feb. 8.

    RAI Services and R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company, the maker of Vuse e-cigarettes, are owned by BAT. Vuse is the most popular brand in the c-store segment, according to Neilsen data.

    “As the Agency well knows, use of ENDS products in the United States has shifted to disposable products. And a new enforcement policy, one that is specifically directed at these disposables that are on the market illegally, is needed to better protect public health,” the petition states.

    Reynolds requested that the FDA prioritize enforcement for:

    • Any flavored disposable ENDS (except for tobacco- or menthol-flavored products);
    • Any disposable ENDS containing nicotine derived from any source other than tobacco that lacks premarket authorization;
    • Any disposable ENDS containing nicotine derived from tobacco that was not on the market as of August 8, 2016, or for which the manufacturer either failed to submit an application by September 9, 2020, or submitted a PMTA to FDA by that deadline, but received a negative action that is not being challenged in court;
    • Any disposable ENDS for which the manufacturer has failed to take (or is failing to take) adequate measures to prevent minors’ access; and
    • Any disposable ENDS targeted to, or whose marketing is likely to promote use by, minors.

    Reynolds does not sell disposable vapes or vaping products in flavors other than tobacco or menthol. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted an administrative stay of an FDA marketing denial order (MDO) for two R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. menthol flavored refill pods.

    “Such a policy,” writes Reynolds regarding its desired enforcement priorities, “will close an existing loophole in FDA’s current tobacco enforcement efforts, especially when it comes to youth.”

  • BAT’s Next-Gen Tobacco Products Profits Growing

    BAT’s Next-Gen Tobacco Products Profits Growing

    Credit: Dilok

    British American Tobacco says that it expects its next-generation tobacco products division to be profitable earlier than previously anticipated, but its share price was down as diluted earnings per share declined.

    Total revenue for BAT is set to come to £27.7 billion for 2022, up 7.7 percent from 2021.

    Its “new categories” arm – made up of vaping products, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches contributed £2.9 billion of 2022 revenues, which was up by 40.9 percent, reports the Evening Standard.

    CEO Jack Bowles said the division was now expected to turn a profit in 2024, one year earlier than previously thought.

    “Our new category business delivered strong volume, revenue and market share growth and has become a significant contributor to the group’s financial delivery,” he said. “In 2022, we invested more than £2 billion in new categories to drive long-term sustainable growth, while making excellent progress in reducing operating losses by 62 percent.”

    Adjusted operating profit for BAT as a whole was in line with expectations at £12.4 billion.

    However, BAT shares are down 4.5 percent so far today.

    The top-selling Vuse electronic cigarette of BAT subsidiary R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. continued to expand the market-share gap with Juul in both monthly and yearly comparisons.

    BAT, the owner of the Irish business PJ Carroll, is also seeking to bring a judicial review against a decision by the European Union to ban flavored heated tobacco products.

  • PMI, BAT Recognized Again for Gender Equality

    PMI, BAT Recognized Again for Gender Equality

    Philip Morris International and BAT were included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI).

    PMI made the index for the third year running, achieving an overall score of 80.6 percent.

    “Achieving gender balance at all levels of the company is one of our top priorities, and I am delighted that our efforts are recognized again in this year’s index,” said Silke Muenster, chief diversity officer at PMI. “While we are making significant progress, we know we need to keep our foot on the acceleration pedal. An inclusive workplace that leverages the full talents of both women and men is crucial to our smoke-free vision, making our organization more innovative, resourceful and engaged.”

    In 2022, PMI achieved its target of ensuring at least 40 percent female representation in managerial roles and announced a new target to achieve 35 percent of women in senior roles by the end of 2025, among other targets.

    BAT, which participated in the index for the first time, received a score of 75 percent. BAT was recognized for creating an inclusive culture for women via its recruiting initiatives, adoption of family-friendly policies, sponsoring programs dedicated to educating women, and support of community programs. Inclusion in the index follows BAT being named as a Global Top Employer for a sixth successive year.

    “Recognition in this year’s Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index demonstrates our commitment to addressing gender diversity and highlights our concerted global efforts to provide transparent reporting,” said Hae In Kim, BAT’s director of talent, culture and inclusion. “With more than 50,000 employees worldwide, our diversity and inclusion strategy is truly global, and I continue to be incredibly proud of the collective efforts made by all our employees.”

    The GEI measures gender equality performance globally across five pillars as set by Bloomberg: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. The 2023 Bloomberg GEI comprises 485 companies from 45 countries and regions.