Tobacco leaf is the most essential part of our products, so the farmers who grow it are absolutely crucial to the success of our business. If they do well, we do well – so we make sure this happens by supporting them.
We have a long and proud history in agriculture, working directly with farmers around the world and advancing agricultural practices. Today, we continue to provide on-the-ground advice and support to our contracted farmers, develop new technologies and conduct cutting-edge research – for example, into more sustainable leaf varieties.
Valued business partners
The farmers we work with are valued business partners and we want them to feel confident about their future. If our farmers are prosperous, they can encourage future generations to continue to farm and support their local communities and the environment. For our business, this is a pragmatic and commercial approach that secures our supply chain and ensures the integrity and quality of our products to satisfy our consumers.
We do not own tobacco farms or directly employ farmers. We work as partners with over 100,000 contracted farmers worldwide and in 2014 we invested over £65 million in supporting them. We have more than 1,000 leaf technicians around the world who are an important source of advice and support for farmers, helping them to run successful, profitable and high-yielding farms.
Investing in communities
Many of our companies have built close ties with the communities in which they operate and we have a long-standing approach to corporate social investment. We have invested more than £60 million in community projects over the last five years, funding projects such as community action to address water scarcity in Lombok, Indonesia and providing power and safe drinking water for rural communities in Bangladesh.
Trade marketing is a large part of our activity, and building lasting partnerships with the retailers who sell our products is key. We place as strong an emphasis on being a high quality supplier to the trade as we do on working to ensure high standards among our own suppliers.
We have around 20,000 trade marketing and distribution employees globally, who work with retailers and develop mutually beneficial partnerships.
Our aim is not just to focus on our own goals, but to engage with senior management of partner companies for a good mutual understanding of each other’s global strategies and to identify potential areas of alignment and cooperation. We also aim to offer our trade partners a comprehensive insight into consumer preferences and buying behaviour in the tobacco category.
Working together to prevent youth smoking
We are committed to carry out youth smoking prevention activities in all of our markets where feasible and permitted – to help retailers uphold the law and prevent underage access to tobacco products at the point of sale.
In 2014, youth smoking prevention activities took place in 99% of our markets that were able to do so. These include lobbying for minimum age laws of 18 where none exist, and working with more than two million retailers worldwide by raising awareness of existing laws, providing training and advice on checking IDs, and supplying in-store posters and other materials.
