How do you work with retailers to merchandise the category and your brands specifically? What advice would you give to retailers to make the most of RYO/MYO’s profit potential?
We offer many different racks and merchandisers for the category. It works best when all the RYO/MYO is in one department. A retailer can carry nine different cigarette rolling papers in one of our racks, with a very small footprint. This makes it one of, if not the, most profitable item per square inch in the retailer’s store.
How price conscious are RYO/MYO consumers?
There are a couple of segments. When it comes to value-brand cigarette paper, such as TOP cigarette rolling paper—the No.1-selling value brand in the U.S.—cigarette tobacco and cigarette tubes, the adult consumer is quite price-conscious. With premium brands like JOB and OCB, the adult consumer is looking more for quality over price.
How do you ensure product quality and consistency?
The factories that make our cigarette rolling papers have hundreds of years of experience. They take pride in the producing the finest-quality French cigarette rolling papers in the world. The factories that produce our cigarette tubes are state-of-the-art, with strict quality controls and processes to ensure the best product at the best price.
How do Other Tobacco Products (OTP) state tax hikes impact your sales? Can you share any state-specific examples? Are you involved with any local efforts to keep OTP taxes down?
Of course taxes affect business, but we just focus on making a better-quality product to keep our adult consumers loyal to our brands. We belong to and support organizations like [the National Association of Tobacco Outlets] that work on the legislative issues.
How concerned are you about FDA regulation? What changes have you made or do you plan to make to your business to prepare for the deeming regulations to take effect?
Most of our products have been under FDA regulation for years. The only product that would be new under the FDA regulations would be our pipe tobacco. We are committed to the category and have been working toward full compliance for our pipe tobacco brands. The concern is enforcement. We are going to be celebrating our 50-year anniversary soon, so we do everything required of us to be compliant. The issue is other companies that don’t comply with the FDA regulations and whether the FDA will actively enforce the FDA regulations against such non-compliant companies and make a fair playing field for everyone.
What else is important for your customers to know about Republic Tobacco and your brand family?
We are and have always been a family-owned company. This means instead of focusing on shareholders’ needs, we are committed to our wholesale partners and our adult consumers. Our main goal is listening to our adult consumers and producing the products that they are looking for at the high quality they have come to expect from Republic Tobacco.
This story first appeared in the January/February 2018 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
– By Jennifer Gelfand, editor in chief of Tobacco Business Magazine
