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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
MAY/JUNE 2014
good, the packaging is great, and they
are selling. We started slow and we are
now aggressively moving up with them.
Retailers who are already carrying Dean’s
lines are picking them up and telling
customers, ‘If you want an e-cigar, you
should try Dean’s E-cigars.’
“It is definitely amazing how this
industry endlessly evolves,” he reflects. “I
never thought I’d see anything like this.
But while people are buying lot of the
e-products, I don’t think they will replace
old-fashioned products. I think it will be
more of an alternative product.”
Rolling With
Regulatory Concerns
Rouse foresees additional taxation
impacting the pipe tobacco category, but
says that M&R will adapt. “The question
is, ‘How will they reclassify these products
that have been on the market for hundreds
of years?’” he notes. “No one has a crystal
ball, but the only thing we see making a
difference is classing all the products at
the same tax rate. We are prepared to do
whatever the law requires. Of course, our
biggest concern is that they could tax our
products right out of business if tax hikes
make them so expensive that consumers
can’t buy them.”
On the regulatory front, the
potential for a ban on flavors is a
concern. “If they ban flavors, I believe
people will still continue to smoke
our branded products based on price,”
says Rouse. “If they do both—increase
taxation and ban flavors—the story
could be different. I don’t know of any
strategy that will address that. The
only thing you can do is stay on top of
the developments.”
Information and support is one
of the ways M&R distinguishes
itself from competitors, adds Rouse.
“When a retailer or anyone calls our
company, I always call them back
personally and see if I can help,”
he says. “We don’t ask someone in
our ordering department to answer
specific questions regarding tobacco.
I want my customers to know [that]
they can access me personally and
that I’ll do anything I can to help
them.
“Since the very beginning, our
company has always operated as
a partnership with our customers;
whatever they need, we want to
provide. Our philosophy is, ‘If
you
win,
we
win.’ We have been around a long
time so it must be working!”
TBI
The Importance of
Involvement
Having weathered sweeping industry
changes more than once during his
35-plus years in the business, Rouse
has learned how to roll with the
punches. “First of all, you have to
stay informed,” he says. “You have
to know what is coming at you by
always staying abreast of the news
and developments.”
For many years, Rouse learned
about changes from the trenches
while serving as chairman of Friends
of Tobacco, an association of growers
that lobbied on behalf of the industry
in Washington, D.C. Involvement,
he says, is often the best way to get
access to information and to help
shape the industry’s future. “When
something threatens your livelihood,
you have to stand up and be counted
and do what you can,” he says. “My
father always told me, ‘There is no
reason you can’t stand up and fight
for your industry.’”
Other organizations representing
the industry have taken the baton
from Friends of Tobacco, but Rouse
is able to stay informed about new
developments through friends who
are still involved in the legislative
arena. “Involvement and networking
[are] the best way[s] to protect your
business,” he asserts.
