In recent years, roll-your-own tobacco machines have surfaced at various retail locations putting convenience stores at a competitive disadvantage on price. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor America, and in particular its lawmakers, remains caught in a love-hate relationship with tobacco. That push-pull has resulted in very well-publicized attempts to dissuade Americans from using tobacco, or…
GAO Suggests Equalizing Tobacco Tax Rates
A new report finds shift in using pipe versus roll-your-own tobacco and large cigars versus small cigars to avoid hefty taxes. This week, the federal Government Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report titled “Large Disparities in Rates for Smoking Products Trigger Significant Market Shifts to Avoid Higher Taxes.” The document shows the impact of the…
A Simple Tobacco Fable
Alternative products are helping to shape the future of convenience store tobacco sets. By Lou Maiellano. Imagine, if you will, that European explorers land in Africa, North America or South America in the 14th, 15th or 16th centuries. Upon landing, these explorers find the inhabitants of these exotic new lands drinking a strange, energizing brew…
Lawsuit Aims To Protect Promotion and Sale of Legal Tobacco Products
Trade associations and seven tobacco manufacturers team to fight tobacco ordinances. On Tuesday, Feb. 14, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets Inc. (NATO), the Cigar Association of America Inc. (CAA), along with Lorillard Tobacco Co., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., American Snuff Company, Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Manufacturing Co. LLC, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco…
Building New Tobacco Sales
Retailers and government officials butt heads over handmade cigarettes. By Pat Pape, Contributing Editor Celeste Lucas likes to smoke, but she doesn’t like paying $5 a pack for cigarettes, so she took matters into her own hands and purchased a roll-your-own cigarette machine. Using loose tobacco and paper tubes, she can now create an entire…
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…
Pipe Versus RYO Tobacco
The Pipe Tobacco Council, a trade organization of pipe tobacco manufacturers, has responded to the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) previously published request for comments to distinguish between pipe tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco for federal excise tax purposes based on the physical characteristics of the two tobacco products. The deadline for…
FDA Republishes June 22 Tobacco Regulations
The FDA Center for Tobacco Products has republished a rule, which becomes effective June 22, 2010, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. As of June 22 the rule will impose certain restrictions on the sale, distribution, advertising and marketing of cigarettes, rolling tobacco and smokeless tobacco. The regulations in this rule do not…
A Rocky Ride for RYO
Proper Handling Quality counts—especially with tobacco, something c-store operators had better keep in mind. Kevin Paige, owner of three Butthead’s Tobacco Emporiums in Danbury, Conn., said he is trying to distance himself from the c-store channel when it comes to tobacco. “Although I operated my own c-stores for over 20 years, I don’t think the…