NICOTINE pouches have become big business for British American Tobacco in the cigarette giant’s strategy shift towards a “smokeless world”.
Like its rivals, the maker of Rothmans, Dunhill and Vogue cigarettes is trying to solve sliding sales of fags with what it calls “reduced-risk” products such as snus, little pouches of tobacco placed on the gums.
It is already making £1billion from non-cig sales.
BAT yesterday said it expects a stronger second half with even bigger profits from its new products, helped by the success of its non- tobacco Velo nicotine pouch brand.
But boss Tadeu Marroco warned illegal disposable vapes were denting sales of its own e-cig products, which include Vuse.
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BAT is the UK’s third biggest vape-seller but the company now also enjoys success selling “modern oral” products, its term for nicotine pouches that slide under the lips.
Long popular in Scandinavia, they have spread elsewhere as alternatives to smoking.
Nicotine pouches are tobacco-free whereas snus contains tobacco and is illegal to buy in the UK but not banned.
A Professional Footballers’ Association study showed last week almost one in five pros have tried nicotine pouches at least once, believing it enhanced performance or helped them to relax.
However, there are rising concerns about the increased risk of mouth lesions and oesophagus and pancreatic cancer.
BAT said its tobacco-free brand, legally sold in the UK, has a 10.3 per cent share of the market and it plans to expand in emerging markets.
May A.I. take your order?
CHICKEN shop Popeyes has become the first fast-food restaurant in the UK to replace staff with AI robots.
The US chain is rolling out the technology at three of its drive-thrus.
Popeyes, which has 38 sites in the UK and plans to open 30 more this year, said the AI robot takes orders from customers in a “conversational way”.
The robot is already said to have “scored highly” on order accuracy at the Louisiana-themed restaurants in Northampton, Cardiff and Rotherham.
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David Carey, chief technology officer at Popeyes, said “We believe this technology has the power to revolutionise the drive-thru experience for the better”.
JD chiefs £180k for move upset
THE boss of JD Sports is being handed a £180,000 “disturbance allowance” to help him with the troubles of moving for the job.
Regis Schultz, who took over at the self-styled “King of Trainers” in September 2022, is getting £60,000 a year for the next three years on top of a £300,000 relocation allowance, the company’s annual report reveals.
Mr Schultz moved from Dubai to London to lead the FTSE 100 retailer.
Disturbance allowances are intended to cover the incidental costs associated with moving to a new home.
JD Sports’ annual report revealed Mr Schultz received £1.58million in total pay for the past year, down from the £2.9million he bagged the previous year when the company spent £2.2million buying him out of his bonus he would have received as boss of UAE retailer Al-Futtaim.
Since joining, Mr Schultz has unveiled a five-year plan to open up to 350 stores a year and to boost sales.
But JD last week said UK sales dipped by 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year as bad weather put shoppers off.
The Frenchman, 55, is not alone in bagging big accommodation expenses.
The boss of Barclays, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, received £6,550 a month in housing allowance for his move from New York to London when he was made chief executive in 2021.
Bank in 'terror cash' rap
STANDARD Chartered has been accused of laundering billions of pounds worth of transactions for terrorist groups in fresh whistleblower claims.
The allegations are part of a case against the bank which claims it made “countless illegal transactions” between 2008 and 2013 for Iran-linked entities.
The bank, the kit sponsor for Liverpool FC, is alleged to have handled transactions for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Claims have been made by Standard Chartered’s former head of foreign exchange and a currency trader, who have examined £78billion in currency deals.
Standard Chartered has paid £1.5billion in fines to regulators for breaching sanctions against Iran.
A company spokesman dismissed the allegations as “fabricated claims”.
Shares in Standard Chartered sunk by 5 per cent.
