At the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference, British American Tobacco’s (BAT) chief executive, Jack Bowles, shared his growth plans for the next phase of BAT’s transformation and referred to 2021 as being a “pivotal year” for the big tobacco company.
During this presentation, Bowles announced a new program called QUEST that will accelerate BAT’s transformation and help it to create what it’s calling the “Enterprise of the Future.” QUEST focuses on five strategic business areas–Quantum, Unleashing innovation, Empowering the Organization, Shaping Sustainability and Technology & Digital. QUEST will drive BAT’s continued evolution of its portfolio, structure, culture and ways of working. This all is connected to BAT’s mission and business focus in recent years–A Better Tomorrow, which will be achieved by reducing the health impact of its business. BAT plans to do this by developing new reduced risk products that will take the company’s portfolio beyond its original traditional combustible tobacco products. This includes developing more vapor, tobacco heating products and modern oral products. BAT has already begun to introduce new products to its portfolio that go beyond nicotine, including the launch of a recent CBD vaping line that was recently introduced in the test market of Manchester, United Kingdom.
“We are at a key moment in our transformation. We are accelerating our transformation towards A Better Tomorrow and committed to building The Enterprise of the Future. We have made great progress. We have invested in strong foundations for the future. We are building and driving new capabilities, with a clear focus on digital, and the sharpening of our science and innovation pipeline. And we have done this while consistently delivering financial returns,” commented Bowles. “Our strategy, growth and investment priorities are building BAT into a sustainable, leading consumer-centric multi-category consumer products company of the future. Our transformation is moving us from a company that is known for tobacco, to one that is focused on technology and innovation. Our clear roadmap for the future is leveraging our strengths, new capabilities, innovation portfolio and brands with purpose to build A Better Tomorrow.”
