After much debate, an edited e-cigarette bill in Hawaii will not tax e-cigs at the 70% tobacco tax rate, but will restrict sales to minors. E-cigarette bill, SB2233, was passed by the Hawaii Senate Ways and Means Committee Friday, Feb. 10, after members voted to delete language that would require a 70% tobacco tax on [...]
Smokers have more options today when it comes to tobacco use, and Camel wants customers to know it’s transforming with the times. Camel SNUS is running a number of print ads that are appearing in dozens of alt-weeklies nationwide this month. “At a time when adult tobacco consumers may be considering their options, we want [...]
It’s all about business at the Tobacco Plus Expo International in Las Vegas. The most comprehensive tobacco show in the U.S. will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, Feb. 1-2, 2012. The not-to-be-missed event promises to be the year’s best opportunity for retailers, manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers to see new products, [...]
FDA has posted a draft guidance to help persons submitting applications for new tobacco products understand the premarket tobacco product application process. The draft guidance addresses questions such as: • Who may submit a new tobacco product application • When to submit a new tobacco product application • What information the FD&C Act requires you [...]
RAW Natural Unbleached Rolling Papers are the first of their kind: an unbleached, less processed paper that maintains its original natural brown hue. The paper is extremely thin, almost translucent and uses a sweet sugar-based gum. This product was created in the spirit of Additive Free Cigarettes and the overall market trend towards natural, less [...]
A new class of products is emerging to satisfy the needs of social tobacco users. So many thoughts that capture my mind are worthy of being written about. Some incite our emotions (like the recent attack on Terry Gallagher of Smoker Friendly who accepted the position as coach of the Boulder High School girls varsity [...]
A U.S. judge has ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have the authority to regulate electronic cigarettes, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a 32-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon sided with electronic cigarette maker Smoking Everywhere Inc., and found that the FDA did not have the authority [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Copenhagen (Altria Sales & Distribution/US Smokeless) Grizzley (Conwood/Reynolds America) Skoal (Altria Sales & Distribution/ US Smokel) HONORABLE MENTIONS Longhorn, Red Man and Timber Wolf (Swedish Match) Kodiak (Conwood/Reynolds America) The effect of tobacco taxation and smoking restrictions has made it much more difficult to rely on cigarette sales as the primary category for [...]
Flavored products including cigarettes, RYO and loose tobaccos and rolling papers are no longer legal in U.S. stores; administration said it would look at “little cigars” and similar products on a “case-by-case basis.” The smoking lamp on the majority of flavored tobacco products sold in convenience stores has been extinguished, but the ruling has ignited [...]
In a market plagued by high taxes, declining gross margin profits on cigarettes and the likely possibility of FDA restrictions on tobacco, retailers more than ever need to manage the tobacco category more closely. It’s no secret that the smokeless category has been growing, with big year-on-year gains in new product sales, flavors and line [...]
The increase of federal and state cigarette excise taxes will have a far-reaching, negative impact on the convenience store industry. With the exception of petroleum products, no other category is more vital to the industry’s success than tobacco products. Given that cigarettes represent 30-45% of c-store inside sales, the deterioration of this category will have [...]
January could not end soon enough. The industry hasn’t seen such a tumultuous month since November 1998 when Congress first turned to tobacco as its financial panacea. Big Brother was at it again last month with the U.S. Senate passing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—including all of the cigarette and tobacco tax rate [...]
In an effort to boost sales in the smokeless category, Pilot convenience stores in the Knoxville, Tenn., market are testing the Vegas E-cigar, a product manufactured by Minneapolis-based Ruyan America Inc. that looks and feels like a premium cigar, but uses a microchip and nicotine-infused liquid to produce a vapor that provides its user with [...]
Cigarettes continue to be the top in-store category based on sales dollars. On a monthly basis, the industry per store average over the past year was $39,127. However, its gross profit contribution slipped to 3.2% to $6,152 falling behind package beverages ($6,526), according to the National Association of Convenience Stores State of the Industry report. [...]