Japan Tobacco International, a cigarette manufacturing company, has “noted” the lack of proposed legislation related to the introduction of standardized packaging in the Queen’s Speech during this Parliamentary session.

Japan Tobacco International

Jorge da Motta, managing director of Japan Tobacco International UK, said: “The determination of the UK authorities not to involve standardized packaging in the Queen’s Speech displays the regulatory principles of evidence-based policy not policy-based evidence are being consideredю

“The tobacco control lobbyists have tried to motivate MPs that standardized packaging will help the younger generation stop smoking; they have attempted to use emotion to prevent the authorities’ own consultation process and to finish any debate.

“Regardless of the UK authorities having made the decision not to include standardized packaging currently, this hasn’t prevented a UK-based MEP from trying to change the Tobacco Products Directive to involve plain packaging and implement the measure via the back door. Regardless of Europe-wide economic problems it appears some are still in preference of ever-increasing ‘nannyism’, red tape and expensive but unsuccessful regulation.

“Greater investment in resources to stop the illicit trade in tobacco in our communities would be a main action forwards in blocking the access of tobacco to teenagers. Reinforcement of retail access prevention actions, such as the ‘No ID, No Sale’ programmes and the Scottish example, which penalises proxy purchasing by adults and the buying or attempted purchase of tobacco products by those under 18, are effective solutions.

“We would welcome discussion with authorities and enforcement agencies to talk about our proposals in more detail.”

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Even though smoking tobacco products is banned in public places such as restaurants, bars and public airwaves, it is still accepted by the majority of the country’s colleges.

Tobacco companies obviously have focused on higher education connections as one method of getting two key markets: teenagers and blacks.

Marlboro Red cigarettes

Altria, which is the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, the top-selling cigarette brand in the United States, is a good example.

Execs and directors of the famous tobacco company collaborated with the United Negro College Fund, Howard University, the University of Richmond and other institutions.

Altria also gives huge amounts of money to colleges around the nation. Its list of 2012 grantees contains over 50 colleges, college-related foundations and scholarship funds.

Altria director John T. Casteen III is Virginia’s former education secretary, a director of the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education and former president of the University of Virginia, which obtained a $26 million gift from the cigarette maker.

College officials who hold board posts with cigarette producers reap some benefits personally, as well. Casteen’s pay package from Altria exceeded $275,000 in 2012. Other million-dollar-plus recipients of Altria’s largesse recently include Virginia Commonwealth University and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Philanthropy, whether it’s through grants or underwriting of the Altria College Opportunity Fund scholarship program, can be considered as an alternate advertising base for Altria, making it possible for the company to publish press releases with headlines such as: “Altria to Help Make Future Brighter for Richmond Public Schools Seniors.” The Virginia-based tobacco company, the maker of L&M and Red&White cigarettes, isn’t the only company creating educational ties. The map below provides connections of Reynolds American and Lorillard:

Regardless of the tobacco companies’ initiatives, more colleges are banning smoking. Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights indicates that no less than 1,159 colleges now have non-smoking policies, in contrast to 530 campuses two years back.

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Imperial Tobacco, the fourth-largest cigarette company around the world, demonstrates interest to developing Asia/Pacific travel-retail business at TFWA presentation.

Davidoff iD advertisement

Imperial Tobacco, which is the manufacturer of Richmond and West cigarettes, has made an announcement that the company will present a double-storey stand at this year’s Tax Free World Association Asia Pacific Conference & Exhibition in Singapore in May this year.

The stand will contain three meeting rooms, branded Davidoff iD, Montecristo and Gauloises, a bar area and a Davidoff-branded smoking area on the second level.

Imperial Tobacco general manager global duty-free Andreas Lemke said: “The Asia/Pacific area and its developing duty-free market represent great importance for Imperial. To prove the interest of the cigarette company to develop in this territory, Imperial has considerably improved its presence at this year’s TFWA Asia Pacific presentation. The tobacco company is hoping to meet its customers and business collaborators at its newly-designed stand.”

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One of the most well-known advertising campaigns in US history was launched in 1968 for the Virginia Slims cigarette brand.

“You’ve come a long way, baby” was the appealing slogan for a new, slimmer cigarette brand manufactured by the leading Phillip Morris Company and advertised especially to women smokers. The campaign, created by the famous Leo Burnett Agency, was extremely successful, both in commercial and cultural terms, turning into a national catch-phrase.

The campaign attracted the growing feminist awareness and the increase of “the New Woman,” a woman who was independent and enthusiastic to show her self-confidence.  On top of that, images in the advertisements associated this lively confidence with U.S. women’s history in contrasting the liberty and glamour of modern-day woman with the repression that women in the past had suffered.

Philip Morris sold a great number of their Virginia Super Slims cigarette packages so already by 1974 they could easily afford to hire super models for their triumphant “You’ve come a long way, baby” advertising campaign. Cheryl Tiegs, Christine Farrare, and Erin Gray had their first Virginia Slims advertisements published June 1974, July 1975, and March 1979 respectively. Sassy Dani Minnick was depicted in a purple dress for her first Virginia Slims advertisement November 1981. Kelly Emberg, Carol Alt, and Rosie Vela also modeled for Virginia Slims. None of these gorgeous ladies were recognized on any of the Virginia Slims ad, but each was recognized by her fans.

Phillip Morris acknowledged that Virginia Slims brand is the main key to company’s success.  Contrasting the brand with other women’s cigarette brands made by Philip Morris competitors, as for instance “Eve” and “Satin” Phillip Morris stated the Virginia Slims brand was “feminine but non-threatening. The women were women who could make their own choices and who had not lost their femininity.

The beautiful women who modeled for Virginia Slims weren’t always profitable in launching new line extensions. Virginia Slims Ovals were unsuccessfully test promoted in Rochester, Las Vegas, and Birmingham in June 1984. One more short lived idea was to arrange Virginia Slims 10 Pack.

In October 1975 Philip Morris was the first producer to extend the 120mm length to a major brand. Virginia Slims 120′s were advertised in Fresno, California, and consequently removed when sales were unable to meet objectives. It wasn’t until 1985 that super long Virginia Slims Lights 120′s became acceptable. One Virginia Slims line extension introduced in the late 1980s was approved by women, but disapproved by a competing producer.

Philip Morris introduced Super Slims from Virginia Slims beginning October 1989.

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Imperial Tobacco is delighted to present two new variants of its Player’s cigarettes

On April, 15, Imperial Tobacco, a Bristol-based cigarette company, made an announcement about the introduction of two new variants added to its Player’s portfolio. From mid-April Player’s Smooth will be sold in convenience stores in King Size and Super King Size 19s, showing the increasing popularity of adult smokers who look for a quality blend cigarette, at affordable price.

Player’s Smooth King Size cigarette pack

The sub-economy sector is supposed to represent about 8% of the whole cigarette market by the end of 2013. This sector has grown by a third, every year, and is without question the UK’s fastest boosting price sector.

Presently smooth versions account for 38% of the sub-economy sector and the two new Player’s Smooth versions have been created by the world’s fourth-biggest cigarette maker to indicate the needs of adult smokers.

Player’s Smooth is available in a new up-to-date pack style to attract current tobacco customers. Around 60% of sub-economy consumers choose the 19 pack formats. Player’s Smooth King Size and Super King Size 19’s provide smokers with the same top quality and value for money for which Player’s is prominent.

Amy Kiss, head of consumer marketing at Imperial Tobacco, says: “Imperial Tobacco”, being the UK’s No.1 tobacco company, performs constant and intensive consumer analysis to confirm that the company’s category-leading range displays the growing preferences of UK adult smokers. Value-seeking is the major trend in the cigarette category. More than 70% of independent tobacco retailers currently selling Player’s and new Player’s Smooth will offer significant benefit options for retailers.”

Imperial Tobacco manufactures more than 300 billion cigarettes annually. The tobacco company is the owner of 51 factories around the world and its tobacco products are available in over 150 countries. Imperial is the maker of such famous brands as Davidoff, West, and Gauloises Blondes.

Earlier in March this year, Japan Tobacco Inc. (JTI) declared that the JT Group has finalized the buying of Al Nakhla Tobacco Company S.A.E. and Al Nakhla Tobacco Company

The buying was declared in the Company’s November 16, 2012 declaration, “JT to buy a leading hookah tobacco company.”

Nakhla Mint Flavour Tobacco

Nakhla is one of the major producers of hookah tobacco around the world with an important presence in its local market. It has headquarters and is the owner of two factories in Cairo and Shebin El Kom, Egypt.

This tobacco company makes hookah tobacco export supplies to more than 80 countries, mainly in the Middle Eastand North Africa where such hookah has a deep rooted history. Nakhla’s overall sales volume was around 24,000 tons in 2011.

The decsion to buy Nakhla was at a high single digit multiple of Nakhla’s actual revenue before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in 2011, as primarily declared. The buying is supposed to have a minor impact on the Group’s consolidated performance, income and balance sheet.

In the worldwide tobacco business, the Group continues improving Japan Tobacco International’s (JTI) business foundations with a total plan to increase growth.

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Caused by the diverse conditions in the different tobacco growing regions, tobacco leaves differ in size, thickness, colour, and flavour. Factors like the environment, the leaf’s position on the stalk, harvesting, drying, handling and processing, all have an effect on the quality of the leaf and finally the smoking product. The sugar and nicotine proportions of the leaf charge to the overall aroma and flavour of the tobacco leaf. The quality of the leaf is identified by its colour, structure, size, strength, flavour, aroma, rate of burn and processing qualities. Quality is indicated in grades. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) identifies 117 official tobacco grades.

Types of tobacco and cigarettes

There are actually generally four types of tobacco: Virginia, American blend, dark and oriental cigarettes. The latter two, dark and oriental have lost ground to the first two. Virginia cigarettes are made practically totally from flue-cured Virginia tobaccos. They are well-known in the UK and in its former colonies. The American blend is presently the most popular type of cigarettes. Its world market share remains growing. The key tobacco ingredients of the American blend are flue-cured Virginia (around 50%), Burley and Oriental (about 12%). Furthermore, each cigarette brand needs a specific blend of tobaccos (and other components) to offer it its featured taste and to distinguish from its opponents.

Virginia flue-cured is therefore the key base of cigarette tobacco nowadays. Its share in overall unmanufactured tobacco has raised due to the use of Virginia and American Blend cigarettes. Originally from the (US) state of Virginia, currently it is harvested in many countries. US leaf is regarded to be the ideal component for providing quality, flavour and aroma to cigarettes but it is high-priced. Its high price (compared to non-US tobaccos) was once warranted by its excellent quality, but the quality of leaf from other countries has increased. Therefore it is no longer as important as it was for companies of quality cigarettes to use a high ratio of US tobaccos in their mix. However, demand for US tobaccos is still significant. Producers are unwilling to change the blend of tobaccos for fear of modifying the taste and losing true customers. For existing brands, modifications in the sources of supply will appear progressively (offering a degree of stability to the world tobacco trade). A more quick method of reducing the use of costly leaf is by including less of it in new brands or new versions of the general brand (e.g. in light cigarettes).

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Cigarettes have been stolen from a shop in an armed robbery in north Belfast.

Just before 21:00 GMT on Saturday, two masked men, one of them armed with a knife, entered the shop on the Cliftonville Road.

They threatened two female members of staff with the knife. Neither woman was injured.

The robbers, one of the whom was wearing a cream jacket and blue jeans; the other dark clothing, then escaped towards Cliftonville Circus.

Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.