Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 30-11-2018
Research house Ipsos has revealed that South Africa has become the first country in the world to allow an illegal cigarette brand to become a top seller in the country.
This comes after Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation (GLTC) RG brand became the top-selling brand in the country overtaking legal brands.
Ipsos’ tobacco market study shows the trade in illegal cigarettes has increased dramatically despite promises of a crackdown from the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
Ipsos’ Zibusiso Ngulube says the price difference between legal and illegal brands of cigarettes is a major contributing factor in RG’s success.
“From a sales perspective so we are looking at market share within the last wave that we did, so you now seeing RG eclipsing Peter Stuyvesant as a number one brand. In terms of pricing that we picked up on average, RG at R 10 and you average Peter Stuyvesant is between R36 and R38.”
Gold Leaf now represents 73 percent of the market for illegal cigarettes and is on track to become the biggest tobacco company by sales volume in the country, especially if there is another tax increase on legal cigarettes in February 2019.
0 Comments