British American Tobacco - British American Tobacco drives Tobacco Heating Product expansion with Canada launch

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News Release

9 May 2017

British American Tobacco drives Tobacco Heating Product expansion with Canada launch

British American Tobacco (BAT) today announces that it has launched i-glo™ – a Tobacco Heating Product which is a revolution in simplicity – in Canada. i-glo™ (also known as glo™ in other launch markets), heats rather than burns tobacco and delivers a cleaner experience*.

i-glo™ is a truly innovative product. It was designed in the UK, involving over 100 experts across five continents, including scientists, engineers, designers, tobacco experts and toxicologists.

Commenting on the launch, Kingsley Wheaton, BAT’s Managing Director – Next Generation Products, said: “i-glo™ represents our strategy in action – offering adult smokers a range of innovative alternatives to cigarettes.”

i-glo™ is currently available in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company plans to expand the product into other provinces over the coming months. Canada is now the third market in which i-glo™ – known as glo™ in other markets – has launched, as the company seeks to expand its consumer offering and footprint in innovative Next Generation Products.

Kingsley Wheaton continued: “Canadian adult smokers are looking for a choice of alternative tobacco products. We believe i-glo™ will satisfy that demand and offer them a real alternative to smoking.”

glo™ is already available in Sendai in Japan and Switzerland. Following the launch of glo™ in Sendai, it has already gained 6.7% share of the tobacco market in a leading convenience store chain. In addition, glo™ is gaining great consumer feedback in Japan and awareness of the product by consumers is extremely high.

Over the last five years, British American Tobacco has invested over US$1 billion in the development and commercialisation of alternative products and is committed to offering adult smokers a range of innovative Vapour and Tobacco Heating Products (THP) that are potentially less risky than traditional tobacco products, such as conventional cigarettes.  BAT aims to lead in what it refers to as the Next Generation Product (NGP) category, which includes leading in Vapour Products, with its brand Vype, and leading in the THP market with i-glo™/ glo™.

British American Tobacco already has NGPs available in 13 markets across the globe. The company plans on doubling its market presence in NGPs in 2017, and then again in 2018, to over 40 markets.

*These qualities do not necessarily mean that this product produces less adverse health effects than other tobacco products. By cleaner experience we are making the comparison with smoking conventional cigarettes which, unlike i-glo™/ glo™ produces ash.

Enquiries

Media Centre
+44 (0) 20 7845 2888 (24 hours)  | @BATplc

Investor Relations
Victoria Buxton: +44 (0)20 7845 2012
John Harney: +44 (0)20 7845 1263

Enquiries

Annie Brown
P:+44 (0) 20 7845 2332/M:+44 (0) 771 441 1893
annie_brown@bat.com

Notes to editors

i-glo™ (also known as glo™) is a Tobacco Heating Product designed to offer ease of use and best-in-class quality and safety standards. It includes a number of safety features to prevent product malfunctions such as overheating and battery explosions and to ensure a quality user experience, for example:

  • It has a high quality aluminium sleeve and robust plastic base. The internal materials consist of thermal plastic which is heat resistant, a vacuum tube which ensures the exterior remains cool to the touch, rapid heating technology and a high quality lithium battery.
  • It will shut off in the event of overheating and has features that protect it from being charged incorrectly
  • The device has been independently tested by a globally-recognised organisation against international safety standards for consumer devices
About Next Generation Products

Next Generation Products is part of British American Tobacco Group, focused on developing and delivering alternative products for adult consumers in the key areas of Vapour and Tobacco Heating Products.

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