On Friday, March 11, President Biden signed into law the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022.” The bill funds the U.S. government through September of 2022 and also includes a section that grants the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products which contain nicotine that is not made or derived from tobacco (e.g., synthetic nicotine). As…
Cigars Aim for Stability in 2022
Now that cigar supply chain issues have begun to find steadier ground since the early days of the pandemic, c-store tobacco category managers wonder if more inventory reliability will stoke sales. IRI convenience store data shows cigar dollar sales grew moderately, at 3.3% for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021. However, year-ago changes in…
Special-Edition Trendy Lighter Series
BIC is releasing its new Cutting Edge Special Edition Series, which features lighters with many trendy designs in an all-star lineup. The lighter designs include Zoom-themed “You’re on Mute,” “Wish You Were Beer,” relaxing at the pool and many others. The lighters in this series have a suggested retail price of $2.19 per lighter. BIC […]
Are Cigarettes Back to Normal?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears intent on moving ahead with revoking market authorization for menthol cigarettes. Next month, the agency is expected to release a proposed rule on the tobacco product standard to eliminate menthol cigarettes from convenience stores and other tobacco retailers. “(The National Association of Convenience Stores) is on record opposing…
U.S. Tobacco Cooperative Plans Bankruptcy Exit After Class-Action Lawsuit
After originally filing for protection in July 2021, U.S. Tobacco Cooperative (USTC) has begun planning an exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy later this summer. The cooperative filed for protection to meet contractual obligations to its member-growers while the company faced uncertainty presented by an ongoing class-action lawsuit. “On Feb. 2, after 17 years of litigation,…
Premium Pod and Device Packaging, New Colors
Looking for something new from blu? We’ve got you covered. blu is proud to unveil a new premium look and feel across our pod and device packaging. Along with this design change, blu now offers two additional device colors available in Midnight Blue and Forrest Green. Available at participating retailers beginning April 1, 2022. blu […]
OTPs Still on Top
Retailers, economists and parents worried the clogged supply chain would depress the holiday spirit by limiting inventories last year, but other tobacco products (OTP) category sales remained strong through the end of 2021. And as convenience store tobacco/nicotine category managers will attest, supply issues have existed since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cigar…
ACS Study on Massachusetts Cigarette Sales Decline Is Misleading
On Jan. 4, 2022, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study compiled by the American Cancer Society (ACS) which claims to analyze the impact of a Massachusetts law banning the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products. The study focused on comparing cigarette sales in Massachusetts from January 2017…
Bidi Vapor Granted Judicial Stay of FDA’s Marketing Denial Order
Kaival Brands Innovations Group, the exclusive global distributor of products manufactured by Bidi Vapor, announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has granted a judicial stay of the marketing denial order (MDO) previously issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Bidi Vapor in September 2021. The ruling, issued…
Special-Edition Space-Themed Lighters
BIC launched its new BIC Special Edition Out of This World Series Lighters. The special-edition series of lighters features new designs, from alien spaceships to celestial views. Designs in this series capture all of the hype surrounding the world unknown. The lighters in this series have a suggested retail price of $2.09 per lighter. BIC […]