Wild Brands LLC has launched Step cigarettes—a non-tobacco cigarette that incorporates a layered tobacco-style flavor system and comes in full flavor and green (menthol) variants.
“Based on a proprietary formulation of active herbals and botanicals, Step cigarettes is the first perfectly blended cigarette substitute to come to market that truly feels and tastes like a traditional full flavor or menthol product,” Zain Meghani, president of Wild Brands, said. “We believe Step will have enormous appeal with wholesalers, retailers and more importantly, with adult price-conscious consumers.”
Step stands for “Satisfying Tasteful Experience at a fair Price.” It is aimed at adult consumers seeking a substitute to overpriced regular cigarettes, Meghani said. There is no tobacco, nicotine nor hemp in the blend, but customer feedback has indicated that the product has the same feel, taste and satisfaction that adult smokers would expect from a traditional cigarette, he said.
Global Tobacco, Dallas, is the exclusive distributor of Step. It manufactures tobacco and hemp in Texas and works with a network of distribution, sales and marketing companies. Its house brands include Wild Hemp, Rush, America Juice Co. and Crown Distributing LLC.
“This is an exciting new product for the market, as it is free of all federal cigarette excise taxes, many state cigarette excise taxes, as well as the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) payments and FDA [Food and Drug Administration] tobacco user fee payments,” Mike Walters, vice president of sales at Global Tobacco, said. “That means, Step products will be margin friendly to the trade, can be aggressively priced at wholesale and offered to retail to compete directly against traditional cigarette brands.”
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