Tobacco Asia

48 tobaccoasia MANUFACTURING NEWS 制造新闻 manufactures Davidoff, West, Jade, and Pryma cigarettes for the Ukrainian market. Imperial said it was assessing the damage and its impact on operations but did not disclose the financial cost or provide a timetable for restoring production. JTI's factory in Kremenchuk, Poltava region, was struck twice during September and remains closed, according to JTI Ukraine. The company said it had suspended operations before the attacks and that no employees were injured. For security reasons, it declined to confirm whether the facility took a direct hit during the September 22 attack. JTI also rejected Russian Defense Ministry claims that the factory produced military equipment, saying it manufac- tures only tobacco products. US Smokeless Expands Hopkinsville US Smokeless Tobacco Co. (USSTC) has broken ground on a US$250 million expansion of its manufacturing operations in Hopkinsville, KY, with the new facility expected to create more than 200 jobs. Kentucky governor Andy Beshear joined USSTC executives and local officials for the groundbreaking at the company's South Park industrial site. The expansion will add a new manufacturing facility along with machinery and equipment designed to increase and modernize production capacity. "This is more than a new building. It is a statement of confidence in the people of this region and in the future we build together," said Michael Brace, USSTC president and c.e.o. "When completed, this facility will strengthen our Hopkinsville campus with modern manufacturing capabilities, create more than 200 new Kentucky jobs, and approximately double our Kentucky workforce." USSTC, a subsidiary of Altria Group, currently employs approximately 90 full-time and 250 seasonal workers in Hop- kinsville, according to its website. The facility processes dark- fired tobacco leaves for brands including Copenhagen and Skoal. The project forms part of USSTC's broader plan to consolidate and modernize its manufacturing footprint. In May, the company announced that it would move manufacturing operations from its Nashville, TN, plant to the new Hopkinsville facility. USSTC expects to wind down Nashville production gradually, with operations scheduled to conclude in early 2028. The new Hopkinsville plant will allow USSTC to bring most processing, production, and finishing activities together at one location rather than splitting them between Nashville and Hopkinsville. The company plans to replace Nashville's 800,000-square-foot facility with a purpose-built 270,000-square-foot operation in Hopkinsville. "While our operation in Nashville will close in 2028, we remain committed to producing our leading smokeless tobacco brands using 100% American tobacco grown primarily in Tennessee and Kentucky," Brace said in May. "Our connec- tion to both states runs deep, and we value our growers and partners who help carry on our company's storied two-century- old legacy." USSTC has maintained operations in Hopkinsville for more than 100 years. The company, headquartered in Richmond, VA, produces and markets moist smokeless tobacco, with Copenhagen and Skoal among its leading brands. IKE Tech Launches Compliance Platform IKE Tech LLC has launched IKE 2.0, a platform designed to provide continuous compliance for regulated products, initially focusing on the global nicotine category. The platform aims to extend compliance controls beyond retail sale to cover the product lifecycle from manufacture and import through retail and point of use. IKE Tech said existing compliance systems generally stop at the point of sale, leaving limited visibility into who ultimately uses a regulated product, whether it remains authentic and whether applicable require- ments continue to be followed. IKE 2.0 combines four layers: person verification, product authentication, configurable policy controls and compliance intelligence. The person layer verifies the individual using a product and converts verified identity into a human identity token. The product layer confirms authenticity and traceability through direct device integration or NFC smart tags. The policy layer applies requirements based on factors including jurisdiction, product, and SKU, while the intelligence layer uses telemetry and analytics for anomaly detection, governance, and compliance review with human oversight. "Regulated industries share a common infrastructure challenge. Eligibility and compliance may be verified at the point of sale, entry or initial authorization, but accountability often weakens once a product or user moves beyond that first check," said Thomas Chen, founding member and head of technology and IP of IKE Tech. "Compliance cannot stop at the cash register. IKE 2.0 is built to carry identity verification, product authentication and configurable policy controls through the product and access lifecycle, giving manufacturers and regulators a way to maintain accountability at the point of use." IKE Tech said the platform addresses post-sale challenges in the nicotine sector, including diversion through unauthorized channels, counterfeiting, and access by ineligible users. "Across regulated industries, manufacturers and brand operators face the same challenge: compliance systems are built for the point of sale but offer little visibility or control beyond it. IKE 2.0 changes that. It gives manufacturers real-time supply chain intelligence, anti-counterfeit protections, and compliance reporting that can be demonstrated to regulators and partners across markets, without building for each one," said Jason Carignan, founding member and board director at IKE Tech. IKE 2.0 includes a web portal for manufacturers and brand operators and a configurable consumer application, both running on the same infrastructure. IKE Tech said the system has 11 issued patents covering identity, authentication and governance infrastructure, with additional applications pending. The company said its architecture tokenizes verified identity data, while biometric processing occurs on-device. The platform holds SOC 2 Type II certification and is designed for GDPR and CCPA compliance. IKE 2.0 builds on IKE Tech's nicotine-market infra- structure, including an age-verification technology for which the company filed the first standalone component PMTA in the US in April 2025. FDA accepted the application for review in 2025, and the review remains ongoing.

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