Altria Group’s recent $372 million acquisitionOpens a New Window. of a Switzerland-based maker of smokeless tobacco products comes as the industry seems to be shifting in response to plummeting cigarette sales.
The transaction makes Altria, the parent company of Phillip Morris, 80 percent owner of the producer of a smokeless pouch called On!, a product similar to another nicotine pouch, Zyn, made by Swedish Match—which also produces Snus.
“I don’t think there is any question cigarette sales are on a steep decline and tobacco companies are [shifting] to smoke-free products, traditional smokeless tobacco, vaping and … others,” Dr. Brad Rodu, endowed chairman of tobacco harm reduction research at the University of Louisville, told Fox Business.
Americans still buy more cigarettes than alternative tobacco products, but the trend is definitely in favor of the new products, he said.
Fred Lucas – Fox Business – July 5, 2019.
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