While flavored and pre-priced cigar sales are booming, FDA’s pending regulation of the category could upset trends and profits. by Erin Rigik, Associate Editor. Tedeschi Food Shops does a strong cigar business, and with 3-4 feet of space reserved for cigars on the back bar, consumers take notice. Sales on cigars were up for the…
Prop 29 Fails In California
No tobacco tax hike in California. Proposition 29, a ballot question that would have increased the California cigarette tax by $1 per pack and raised other tobacco products’ excise tax on an equivalent basis, was not passed by voters in a June 5 California election, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. The failure…
Renewed Optimism for Cigars
Amid the chaos of legislation and taxation, convenience store retailers remain optimistic they can retain OTP customers and even pick up some new ones trading down from cigarettes. By: Joe Bush, Contributing Editor. Not much been predictable about the tobacco category over the past 18 months. Huge taxes increases have renewed questions about just how…
Heavy Weights
Like all Dean’s cigars and pipe tobaccos, Dean’s new Heavy Weights cigars, a product of M & R Holdings, contain only the highest-quality tobacco. Heavy Weights are the same size as the company’s 2003 release—its 100mm Dean’s Large Cigars—containing slow-burning, air-cured burley filler and 100% homogenized tobacco wrapper. Both filter-tipped cigar brands come in nine…
New White Grape Cigarillos
Swisher International has introduced a new white grape flavor to its lineup of Swisher Sweets Cigars. The white grape flavor offers customers a mild-sweet taste, smooth flavor and an excellent aroma. These new cigarillos are individually wrapped in the company’s sealed-fresh foil wrapping and come in a variety of packaging—Bonus Box 60s, 25-count impulse units…
Focused on the Franchise
BP At a Glance BP is one of the largest integrated oil companies in the world, with an estimated global market share of around 3% of oil & gas production and 4% of refining capacity in the major global markets in which it operates. Its U.S. retailing brands are BP, ARCO and ampm. Global sales:…
Cigars
TOP PERFORMERS Swisher International Inc. Swedish Match Altadis USA HONORABLE MENTIONS John Middleton (Philip Morris USA) Royal Blunts (New Image Global) PrimeTime Cigars New insights on the cigar category reveal that retailers who manage the tobacco segment more strategically benefit from accelerated growth and a larger share of the market. “Retailers focused on offering a…