In an old episode of Seinfeld, an annoying character asks Jerry when they might do lunch. Jerry’s classic answer was “How about never? Does never work for you?” Eleven years ago, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) published a detailed announcement seeking commentary on their intent to ban menthol cigarettes. Three years ago, they issued…
Better Cigars and Better Stores Equal Happier Customers
Cigar facings on the c-store tobacco backbar are about to be substantially reduced. As most readers already know, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon enact its ban on flavored cigars. It may have already happened before you read this. After enactment of the flavor ban, actual enforcement won’t take place until the legal…
The Future of the Tobacco Section Is Up for Grabs
Each time c-store management thinks they have a timetable for the ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) or the White House resets the play clock. So far, the FDA has moved its “effective date” for its bans from May 2023 to October 2023, to “end of the year,”…
The Tobacco Flavor Ban Means More than Resetting the Backbar
The FDA has restricted consumer visibility and access to tobacco for 14 years. During that time, cigarette consumption has declined more than 35%; down more than 4% in 2023 vs. last year (8% according to the Wall Street Journal). The bans will rearrange everything starting in mid-2024. It will be smaller. Chain managers are already…
Why Banning Menthol and Flavors Will Produce a New Set of Problems
As we approach 2024, c-store chains and franchisees are sorting through a jigsaw puzzle of replacement products and revised shelf sets. Driven by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bans, market projections are that the tobacco backbar shelf sets will skew heavily toward alternative nicotine delivery SKUs by late next year. Never mind that the…
Is Everything Going According to Plan?
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) now says “by the end of 2023” will be their announcement date of final regulations for the ban of menthol tobacco products and flavored cigars. If this new timetable and the FDA’s 12-month enactment period are the mileposts, c-store chains and independents now have all of 2024 to figure…
Can Menthols Survive a Tobacco-Free Shift?
Picture this: Sometime around October 2024, a couple of 40-something menthol smokers visit their regular c-stores and ask for their preferred menthol cigarette brands. “Sorry we can’t stock or sell those anymore,” the clerk says. “But we have these new nicotine-free menthols. They say they come close. No tobacco.” Do you think our menthol smokers…
Will Tobacco-Free Smoking Become Another Headache for the FDA?
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products has loaded itself with more regulatory challenges than it can handle. In 2009, its national health priority was to minimize and eventually end tobacco-related diseases and deaths among smokers and non-smokers alike. One key strategy was to focus on ending underage tobacco use. If they…
Retailers Wait on FDA Final Rules
More than 100 cigar and cigarette makers, along with several hundred distributors and thousands of c-store retailers are waiting for the next word on tobacco flavor and menthol rulemaking from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Earlier this year, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products indicated it was still holding to an August 2023 final…
When Is a Menthol Not a Menthol?
By now everyone in the c-store business knows that California has banned flavored tobacco products. There was plenty of advance notice because the ban was delayed for two years until voter approval upheld the law. Meanwhile, menthol cigarette makers had time to adjust to the new rules. Newport Non-Menthol, Camel Crush Oasis (non-Menthol) and Non-Menthol…