4 tobaccoasia Issue 4, 2026 July / August
60 60
48 48
Digitizing the Leaf Growing
Sector
Purity at the Core:
Pharmaceutical-Grade Nicotine
CONTENTS
Publisher/Founding Editor
Glenn Anthony John
gaj@octobermultimedia.com
Managing Editor
Nattira Medvedeva
nam@octobermultimedia.com
Contributing Editor
Thomas Schmid
ths@octobermultimedia.com
Special Correspondents
Timothy Donahue
Dr. Allen Liao
Art Director
Somjet Thitasomboon
Translations
TobaccoChina Online
Administrative Assistant
Aek Jekaram
Subscriptions/Office Assistant
Malisa Kongkatitum
malisa@tobaccoasia.com
Sales Director
Emerson Leonard
edl@octobermultimedia.com
Director, October Inter Co Ltd
Boonthin Tubsongkroh
Editorial/Circulation
Offices Tobacco Asia
October Inter Co. Ltd.
Thamatee Building,
159/19 Soi Ramkhamhaeng 110,
Ramkhamhaeng Road, Sapansung,
Bangkok 10240
Tel +66 2 373 2658.
info@octobermultimedia.com
www.tobaccoasia.com
12 Q&A: New AOI Platform
Drives Global Digitization
FRONT Features
18 Global Shadow Market:
Illicit Vapes
24 Illicit Vaping in ASEAN: A
Region under Pressure
PRODUCT Features
32 POUCH PANIC
36 Modern Vending
Reshapes Nicotine Sales
40 US Draws Line on
"Premium" Cigars
MANUFACTURING Features
48 Purity at the Core:
Pharma-Grade Nicotine
LEAF TOBACCO Features
60 Digitizing the Leaf
Growing Sector
66 Voices from the Field
CLOSING Features
70 China's Tobacco Control:
"Trudging Through Mud"
72 Chinese Cigarettes Shift
to Scenario Marketing
74 China's Tobacco Paradox
78 Generational Bans: The
Next Global Experiment
Features
Departments
8 From the Editor
14 Front Page News
28 Product News
44 Manufacturing News
56 Leaf News
68 Closing News
82 Events
82 Advertisers Index
On the Cover…
Tobacco Asia Issue 4, 2026 (July / August)
Digitization in the leaf sector is advancing
at a rapid pace.
Credit: ChatGPT
