RICHMOND, Va. -- Philip Morris USA said that the company will be introducing Marlboro Snus into an additional test market in the Indianapolis area. Marlboro Snus is a tobacco pouch product designed especially for adult smokers who are interested in smokeless tobacco alternatives to cigarettes.
Marlboro Snus, currently in test market in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, builds on the brand equity of Marlboro cigarettes and comes in four varieties—Rich, Mild, Mint and Spice. Marlboro Snus uses a flavor strip and dried tobacco which make it flavorful and spit-free.
"We [image-nocss] are pleased with the initial reaction by adult consumers, wholesalers and retailers to Marlboro Snus in the Dallas/Fort Worth test market and look to build upon the learnings from that market, as well as our experience with Taboka, in Indianapolis," said Roy Anise, vice president of brand management smokeless for Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA.
Marlboro Snus will be available at retail in the Indianapolis area in March. The company will discontinue the current test market of Taboka in the Indianapolis area.
PM USA launched Taboka, a smoke-free, spit-free tobacco pouch product, in mid-2006, available in test market only in the Indianapolis area.
Taboka Tobaccopaks are small pouches in two versions—Original and Taboka Green (menthol). It uses pasteurized U.S. grown tobacco. Taboka, which does not need to be refrigerated, was intended to be merchandised in the cigarette category.
The expansion into a second market with Marlboro Snus is part of PM USA's continuing progress against its growth strategy, it said. The strategy aims to add to the mix of products it offers starting with those tobacco or tobacco-related products that are adjacent and similar to its existing business, cigarettes.
PM USA is an operating company of Altria Group Inc., New York.
Click here for PM USA's smokeless tobacco information page.
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