From: SMOKEFREE@compuserve.com
Date: Sat, 04/12/08
RJR adds test cities
Smokeless snus 'gaining traction'
By Richard Craver
Winston-Salem Journal
Saturday, April 12, 2008
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_Basi
cArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173355262272
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is taking its Camel Snus marketing tour to the
country’s biggest consumer markets in May.
The company said yesterday that it is expanding the test markets for the
smokeless product from eight to 17 metropolitan areas.
The new markets are Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, Oakland/San Francisco and
Seattle. Camel Snus is the first snus product by a U.S. tobacco
manufacturer introduced into those markets.
Camel Snus comes in a small pouch that is placed between the lip and gum.
The tobacco is pasteurized - not fermented - and it contains less moisture
and salt than moist snuff. It also does not require the consumer to spit,
Reynolds said.
"We’re continuing to learn about the potential of Camel Snus as a viable
product among adult tobacco users," said David Howard, a company spokesman.
"We know snus is gaining traction."
Reynolds has been the most aggressive U.S. tobacco manufacturer with snus,
having begun its first trial two years ago. It has not set a timetable for
distributing and marketing Camel Snus nationally.
The other test markets are in Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas/Fort
Worth, Texas; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; Orlando, Fla.; Portland,
Ore.; and Raleigh. The product is available at Sheetz convenience stores in
Winston-Salem and at convenience stores in Greensboro and High Point.
Although Reynolds does not dictate the price of Camel Snus at retail, the
price is comparable to a premium pack of cigarettes, which typically sell
for $4 to $4.50, Howard said.
The competition for snus products has gotten tighter in recent months.
Liggett Group LLC said on Feb. 26 that it would begin testing in May its
Grand Prix snus in seven of Reynolds’ current markets. Philip Morris USA is
selling Marlboro Snus in Dallas and Indianapolis.
The makers are putting more emphasis on smokeless products, such as snuff
and snus, to gain market share and sales as the smoking rate among adults
continues to decline.
Smokeless products are drawing support from some anti-smoking groups as a
less hazardous way to consume tobacco.
Those groups, as well as Reynolds, want any proposed Federal Drug
Administration regulation of tobacco products to allow for the marketing of
smokeless products as reduced risk compared with cigarettes.
"Reynolds’ expansion of its test market for snus will provide millions of
smokers with less-hazardous alternatives to cigarettes, which is welcoming
news," said Bill Godshall, the executive director of SmokeFree
Pennsylvania. "It makes sense for Reynolds to gradually expand its test
market for snus, as it’s a new and entirely different product than
cigarettes."
But other anti-smoking activists oppose marketing smokeless tobacco under
cigarettes’ brand names.
"Every new city RJR picked has a clean-air law," said Matthew Myers, the
president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "This is about RJR doing
everything they can to keep people from quitting."
Godshall said that persuading smokers to try a new smokeless-tobacco
product isn’t easy.
"Although smokeless tobacco is just as addictive as cigarettes, and should
not be used by those who are not addicted to nicotine, cigarettes are about
100 times deadlier than smokeless-tobacco products," he said.
Stephen Pope, the chief global-market strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald
Europe, said that Reynolds’ cautious approach to Camel Snus has created a
greater opportunity for the product.
"It will be noted by Reynolds that when the Norwegian government placed a
strict indoor smoking ban in public places in June 2004, the sale of snus
really accelerated," Pope said.
Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com.
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