British American Tobacco (BAT) recently launched its tobacco heating product line 'glo' in Italy, making it the first global market to offer both its vapour and tobacco heating products.
The launch took place in Turin on Friday, making Italy its 7th market (including Japan, South Korea, Russia, Romania, Canada, and Switzerland).
Unlike conventional tobacco, glo products heat rather than burn tobacco. The resulting vapour contains roughly 90 to 95% less toxicants than a standard cigarette, the company said.
The glo launch was accompanied by the opening of a 'glo Studio' in the city centre, where consumers can learn more about this 'potentially less risky alternative'.
BAT said that it plans to expand the glo range further in Italy later in the year.
The company's vapour range, Vype, was launched in the country in December 2016.
Reduced Risk Alternatives
Tadeu Marroco, BAT's regional director for Europe and North Africa, commented, “As a leading FMCG company, we know that consumer tastes are frequently changing. We are absolutely committed to transforming tobacco with a range of inspiring products and that’s why we are continuously innovating to offer consumers different choices when looking for reduced risk alternatives to smoking."
The company said in a release that it has invested more than $2.5 billion in its range of 'next generation products' since 2012. It plans to generate more than £1 billion revenue from these lines of products by the end of 2018.
BAT posted revenue of £20.29 billion in 2017, an increase of 37.6% on 2016, driven by its acquisition of Reynolds American last July.
The volume of tobacco heating products and cigarettes grew by 3.2%, buoyed up by the £41.8 billion merger deal, but fell by 2.6% on an organic basis.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
