Tobacco Asia

tobaccoasia 65 CLOSING NEWS 卷尾新闻 helped provide access to clean water for more than 6,500 people, according to the company. NewCo tied the program to its tobacco shipments from Africa, contributing US$300 for every container shipped. Customers also participated through voluntary donations and a give-back campaign associated with the shipments. The company said the initiative has produced several community benefits. Access to clean water has reduced reliance on wood used to boil unsafe water, lowered illness rates, and cut the use of plastic bottles. Families participating in the program have also reported monthly cost savings from no longer needing to buy water. NewCo said it will continue the program through 2026 and will encourage customers to source African-origin tobacco as a way to trigger automatic contributions. The company also invited customers to make direct donations to the nonprofit organization. The program forms part of NewCo's broader effort to link its supply chain activities with community-fo- cused projects in regions where tobacco originates. Canada: Gen Z Drinks Less, Uses Nicotine A new report indicates that Gen Z in Canada consume less alcohol than older generations but show higher daily use of nicotine products. Data from insurance firm PolicyMe found that Canadians aged 18-29 report the lowest alcohol consump- tion among all age groups. Fewer than 1% of respondents in that age bracket said they drink alcohol daily. By comparison, nearly 5% of Canadians over the age of 60 reported daily drinking. The findings come from self-reported lifestyle informa- tion submitted through insurance applications. Despite drinking less, the younger group reported the highest rate of daily nicotine use. According to the report, 7.3% of Canadians aged 18 to 29 said they use nicotine products every day. Other age groups reported daily usage rates between 5% and 6%. The report counted all forms of nicotine consumption, including vaping devices, e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes, and smoke- less products such as chewing tobacco. Andrew Ostro, chief executive of PolicyMe, said the difference likely reflects the growing popularity of alternatives to conventional cigarettes. "Nicotine product usage is a little bit higher in the younger demographic than it is in the older demographic. I wouldn't say [cigarette] smoking is what's causing that," Ostro said, pointing to the rise of vaping products and e-cigarettes. Health advocates say the trend reflects a shift in how younger Canadians encounter nicotine. Sarah Butson, chief executive of the Canadian Lung Association, said new nicotine products have drawn more young people into the market. Filtrona Names New C.F.O. Filtrona appointed Tom Sand-Kristensen as chief financial officer, replacing Tue Saabye. Based in Singapore, Sand-Kris- tensen will lead Filtrona's global finance, legal, corporate governance, and IT functions, along with the enterprise resource planning team. The company plans to streamline responsibilities across these departments to improve account- ability and coordination. Filtrona said the changes aim to strengthen financial discipline, speed up digital integration, and support long-term growth. Sand-Kristensen brings international management experience from several industries, including packaging and recycling, construction, healthcare, and food and beverage. He previously held senior leadership roles at Faerch Group, ROCKWOOL, and Carlsberg, where he oversaw complex operations spanning multiple countries and delivered sustained financial performance. Search Drives Pouch Manufacturing The rapidly growing nicotine pouch industry remains highly dependent on online search visibility, creating a competitive landscape that remains both concentrated and unstable, according to a new report by Jason Artman of ecigOne. Artman's analysis estimates the global nicotine pouch market at US$5.39 billion, with projections reaching US$25.40 billion by 2030. North America currently accounts for 78.4% of global revenue, driven by strong consumer uptake of alternative nicotine products and a regulatory environment that supports their availability. Because many nicotine pouch startups do not operate their own manufacturing facilities, they rely heavily on contract manufacturers offering white-label or private-label production. With nicotine businesses restricted from most traditional advertising channels, search engines have become a key gateway for companies seeking manufacturing partners. The report examined search rankings for 29 nicotine pouch manufacturers using 14 high-intent business-to-business keywords, such as "nicotine pouch manufacturer," to estimate each company's share of search-driven visibility. The findings show a highly concentrated market. Nico- Kickers, Daily Manufacturing, and TJP Labs together account for more than half of total estimated search visibility. NicoKick- ers leads with 24.9%, followed by Daily Manufacturing at 15.5% and TJP Labs at 13.4%. A second group of companies—Ameri- Pouch, Pouch Production, and House of Pouches—holds smaller but still significant shares. Combined, the top 6 manufac- turers capture about 76% of search-driven demand, while the remaining 23 companies share the remaining quarter. Despite the dominance of the US market for nicotine pouch consumption, the report notes that non-US manufactur- ers control roughly 75% of search visibility in the white-label production segment. Artman also describes the sector as structurally immature. Many of the websites analyzed have low domain authority, modest backlink profiles and relatively shallow content libraries. Several sites were created only between 2023 and 2025, indicating a young and still developing online ecosystem. The analysis suggests this makes the competitive hierarchy vulnerable to change. Manufacturers with limited content depth or narrow keyword coverage could see signifi- cant traffic losses if search rankings shift or if search engines update their algorithms. Conversely, companies with stronger domain authority and extensive content—such as Chemnovatic and British VitaTech—may have greater potential to gain visibility in the future. The report concludes that the current market remains highly open to disruption. A well-funded new entrant with stronger search optimization and a robust content strategy could potentially capture 5%-10% of search visibility within 6 months, quickly challenging existing leaders.

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