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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
Close Cigar?
Milin says he modeled the three cigar
flavors after “the finest cigars I loved”
from Davidoff. The E-Cigar King/
Zeus battery is modified, the cartridge
is custom-made, and it is topped with
a “medical silicone tip,” he says, noting
that his product has an “ease of refilling”
and can be charged while in use.
“The modified battery has a microchip
that keeps the puffs consistent—each
and every puff is consistent…there is no
other battery like it,” explains Milin.
Milin’s passion comes from the fact
that he was a former cigar smoker with
COPD—the reason he couldn’t smoke
anymore. “I missed the flavor and I
made it my mission to get the flavor
profiles and the cigar experience as close
as possible.The hardest thing to imitate
in this business is cigar smoking, but I’ve
gotten it damn close.”
Like Vapor4Life, other e-cigar
manufacturers see a more macro picture
for the electronic cigar market as it
moves forward. “It’s our feeling that
the entire electronic market is going to
morph into pens and cigars and move
away from cigarettes,” Michael Pavesi,
senior sales representative for e-cigar
manufacturer CIGR8, tells
TBI
. “We
consider the e-cigar just a specialized
vaping product.”
Claiming to provide retailers with
gross profit margins in the 52- to
60-percent range, CIGR8 has three
e-cigar SKUs on the market currently:
a rechargeable maduro e-cigar with
tank and charging cable for $48.88, a
gift-boxed rechargeable maduro e-cigar
with all of that plus a second cartridge
and a 10ml bottle of maduro juice for
$88.88, and an 800-puff disposable
maduro-flavored e-cigar for $12. These
are all new-generation products for
CIGR8, which reportedly redesigned its
products and packaging and lowered its
price points “in order to help our retail
customers be more successful in the
e-cigar business,” according to Pavesi.
“Our customers also specifically asked
for a product that could be used with
other juice—a reviewer of our maduro
rechargeable product gave our e-cigar
itself a phenomenal rating, but didn’t
particularly like our juice, and it came
to our attention that retailers wanted to
be able to sell a quality e-cigar without
necessarily selling a certain brand of
juice with it,” Pavesi explains.
He, too, calls it “ancillary business”
for retailers, rather than a replacement
category as some are calling e-cigs.
“E-cigars are for the traditional cigar
smoker who can’t smoke in certain
places, but it’s also for the vaping
consumer who might want to try a
cigar.”
And so, as the e-cigar market refines
and fine-tunes, it is getting second
and third glances from retailers and
customers alike.
e-Cigars aT iPCPr
E-cigars and vaping items were a
larger presence than usual at this July’s
annual International Premium Cigar
& Pipe Retailers Association expo.
There were 25 percent more “electronic
smoking devices/e-liquids” listed in
the 2014 exhibitor directory compared
with the 2013 directory. Plus, that
was just the pure electronic smoking
devices/e-liquid
companies—several
tobacco manufacturers exhibiting at the
show also now have electronic options
available.
Daughters & Ryan and M&R
Holdings are two cigar companies that
have branched out “electronically.” In
the case of M&R, the company decided
in January to provide an electronic
cigar option (disposable) to its three
Dean’s little cigar blends: full, mild and
menthol. “We wanted to complement
our line for when our customers can’t
smoke cigars,” explains Cheryl Turner,
vice president of M&R Holdings.
“They specifically asked about it and
so we decided we wanted something
that would exactly complement our
own brand, rather than having them go
elsewhere for an electronic option.”
No doubt, e-cigars are not for every
cigar smoker—or every cigar retailer.
Many still express skepticism. “I have
no place for e-cigars—I don’t carry
them and I’m doing extremely well
with e-cigs,” asserts Andy Kerstein,
president of Smoker’s Haven in
Metuchen, New Jersey. “I’ve heard that
some retailers are doing extremely well
with e-cigars and if they are, God bless
them. I’ve had one or two customers
ask about them, but I don’t have them
in my stores.”
TBI
