The Hindu Business Line : Smoking ban spurs firms on to diet versions, candies

Mumbai, Oct. 3 From diet cigarettes to mouth fresheners, cigarette manufacturers such as GTC Industries Ltd and Godfrey Philips are venturing into new products, anticipating a dip in sales after the ban on smoking in public places.

While Godfrey Philips is ready to launch its Funda Mint mouth fresheners, rival GTC, formerly known as Golden Tobacco Company, is trying out its ‘diet cigarette’ product, Diet Blue, which it claims is less harmful than the normal ones. Largest player ITC may not immediately feel the impact of a drop in cigarette sales as it has a wide portfolio of categories now, ranging from FMCG to lifestyle retail. “We are fighting the ban (on smoking in public places) and the matter is now sub-judice. However, cigarettes continue to be our most profitable business,” stated a spokesperson from ITC.

As for Godfrey Philips, which is experiencing this kind of a situation for the first time, it is not sure to what extent the ban will affect cigarette sales.

“However, it (cigarette) is a legal product and as long as there is demand for it, we will manufacture it,” a company official said.

At the same time, the company is getting ready to launch its new mouth freshener across India. It is a growth strategy for us and by entering a new category, we are leveraging our distribution strengths, said a manager at Godfrey Philips.

Priced at 50 paise per candy, the mint-flavoured mouth fresheners come in two variants – Double Thanda and Saunf Fresh – and are targeted at contemporary Indian youth.

“We already have our distribution strengths with eight lakh outlets and these candies have been launched to leverage it,” he said.

The Rs 1,800-crore Godfrey Philips, whose cigarette brands include Four Square and Red & White, wouldn’t mind introducing more products to take advantage of its well-networked distribution layout across the country. The official said it seems like a good business opportunity to get into candies.

The company has been test-marketing the product for the past six months and now is ready to go pan India with it, he added.

The Rs 400-crore Mumbai-based GTC, which has brands such as Chancellor and Panama, has also realised that consumers are preferring ‘healthier’ options which could be well extended to its cigarettes.

GTC has been test-marketing a new concept of diet cigarette for the Indian markets under the brand of Diet Blue, a king-size premium blend cigarette. Diet Blue uses the Ecotine blend which is low on nicotine, tar and TSNAs (tobacco specific nitrosamines) and is thus expected to do lesser damage.

According to Mr Sudhe Ranjan, Vice-President (Marketing), GTC, “The diet cigarettes are targeted at consumers with higher disposable incomes. The product is devoid of the ill-effects of nicotine.”

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