Philip Morris Targets Illegal Tobacco Trade

Source from:  Independent Retail News 10/08/2014

Tobacco company Philip Morris is using its newly created sales force to trial an education programme for 250 independent retailers in Manchester after research found 20% of cigarettes smoked in the north-west of England were contraband.

Manchester has been chosen to trial the programme after Philip Morris test purchasers in the city were able to buy illicit tobacco products on 32 separate occasions over a three-day period – more than in any other location during 2014.

A separate survey of discarded cigarette packs in Manchester by brand protection agency MSIntelligence showed the use of bootlegged, smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes had doubled in the city in just over a year.

Will O'Reilly, a former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector who heads up the test purchasing team, said: "We found illicit cigarettes easy to obtain in Manchester. The problem is growing because organised criminals are moving away from dangerous activities like drug smuggling to tobacco, where there is more profit."

The test purchasers managed to obtain international premium brands, mainly Polish variants, for £5 a pack, a carton of a well-known cigarette brand for the equivalent of £3 a pack and a pouch of a roll-your-own tobacco brand for £5. A retailer in one shop offered a test purchaser single cigarettes before selling a full pack of the Palace 'illicit white' cigarette brand for £5.

The Philip Morris "Ex-it" campaign includes POS and posters for retailers, with messages such as "I care about our community, that's why I don't sell illegal tobacco".

Supported by the Crimestoppers charity and HM Revenue & Customs' Hotline, the initiative over the next three months will "champion retailers as responsible sellers" to drive awareness of the illicit trade and the harm it does to legitimate stores. Enditem