American Snuff Co. Raises List Price of Some Products

Source from:  Winston-Salem (NC) Journal 05/26/2010

American Snuff Co. said yesterday that it has raised the list price of its moist smokeless-tobacco products by 10 cents a can for wholesale customers. The increase, which went into effect yesterday, covers Grizzly, Kodiak and Camel Dip. David Howard, a spokesman for the company's owner Reynolds, said that American Snuff does not comment on its pricing strategy and the price that wholesalers set at retail. Last week, Altria Group Inc. raised its price by 10 cents a can for moist-snuff products, such as Copenhagen and Skoal. "Perhaps Reynolds and Altria have gained enough confidence in demand for their product that they can raise the price at least a little bit," said Pat Shehan, the owner of Tarheel Tobacco in Winston-Salem. His company sells moist snuff more by the roll than individual cans. In the first quarter, Copenhagen regained the top market share at 25.6 percent. Grizzly lost 0.7 percentage points to 24 percent. Skoal was third at 23.1 percent. The market share gains by Copenhagen and Skoal came in part because of aggressive price discounting by Philip Morris. Enditem