Consultant editor Fiona Briggs on whether proposals for a tobacco display ban will prompt retailers to stop selling cigarettes altogether
On Wednesday I attended an Imperial Tobacco briefing, organised to bring the media and, in turn, our retail readers up-to-speed with the latest legislative developments in the sector.
It was no coincidence the event followed government proposals for a tobacco display ban and further restrictions, which grabbed newspaper headlines on Easter Monday when public health minister Dawn Primarolo spoke to the BBC.
But Imperial, and its rivals, certainly knew they were coming.
And, they will be acutely aware the anti-smoking lobby is no longer an irritating tickle but a wheeze, and fast developing into a big and loud chesty cough.
2007 was a particularly busy year in terms of tobacco legislation. Just to recap: The smoking ban was introduced in England on 1 July and in Northern Ireland and Wales in April. On 1 October the minimum legal age for tobacco was raised from 16 to 18 in England, Scotland and Wales.
So far in 2008, child safe lighter legislation came into force on 11 March and pictorial health warnings will appear on the back of tobacco packs later this year.
The impact? According to Imperial Tobacco, UK sales are down by 4%.
Imperial has branded the proposals to ban tobacco displays in retail outlets as "daft".
No surprise there, of course. And, it wants retailers to join its lobbying to oppose such action.
Why? Tobacco is a major grocery category, worth some £13bn in retail sales.
And, of the top 20 fmcg products, 11 are tobacco brands.
Imperial argues a display ban would hit sales and retailers will have to bear the brunt of new merchandising costs.
It has a point, or rather a number of points.
As Deirdre Healy, Imperial´s corporate affairs manager, states: "Every consumer is entitled to see product and make an informed choice.
"We will absolutely defend the right of the retail trade to display the goods they have and show the prices."Tobacco, as Imperial reminds us, is a legal product after all.
And what kind of precedent would a display ban set for other categories such as alcohol and, when we live in nation that is growing increasingly obese, sweets and snacks?
There are equally serious health implications associated with sales of products in those categories too.
But there are powerful counter arguments. Not least that by Imperial´s own admission, sales in Ireland and Scotland, where smoking bans have been in place for longer, have started to recover after initial declines.
Imperial anticipates the same will happen in the rest of the UK. Hence, no doubt, the government´s push on further restrictions.
Imperial presented some pretty grim pictures of retail outlets in Canada, where display bans are already in force in some states. Make shift screens, including a shower curtain in one store, were used to shield tobacco displays – not pretty, I assure you.
Now, I take on board the fact tobacco is a big and legal fmcg category and a leading footfall driver to grocery stores so that to remove tobacco from display altogether could be, in Imperial parlance, "daft".
However, in an increasingly corporately responsible retail environment, I could also envisage leading supermarkets preempting potential new display legislation by being the first to take products off display.
And, they would execute it in a far more sophisticated fashion than a shower curtain, I assure you.
Any potential display legislation could also provide the tipping point for retailers to exit the tobacco category altogether.
It´s happening elsewhere in the world.
In the US, for example, Wegmans Food Markets, the 70-strong regional upmarket supermarket chain, which is ranked third on Fortune Magazine´s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, stopped selling cigarettes earlier this year.
Kevin Coupe, founder of the retail news web site Morningnews-beat.com, supportsWegmans´ move and provides a balanced view.
"Good for them," said Coupe. "Not every retailer is going to do it and not every retailer should do it, necessarily.
"If you´re going to make a part of your appeal good, fresh food and you´re trying to be about health, it doesn´t make sense to sell cigarettes. It makes sense. It´s about being consistent and delivering a specific message to your customers."
Back in the UK, meanwhile, the discounter Lidl announced plans to stop selling cigarettes in its Scottish stores in November 2007.
Lidl claimed the move was part of a wider drive to position itself as a retailer with a strong health message.
As Coupe states, it´s unlikely to be a trend that will sweep across a nation, but it does most certainly provide pause for thought.
Source:
http://www.talkingretail.com... |
