Understanding the tobacco retail environment; next frontier for UK tobacco control

摘要

Background and challenges to implementation The UK isnow a 'dark market' as such the supply chain and availability of tobacco hasbecome a more important part of the marketing mix for tobacco companies. A keytactic of tobacco companies has been to seek to persuade small tobaccoretailers that their interests align with those of tobacco manufacturers and toencourage them to oppose tobacco regulations and participate in the promotionof products. Thisproject sought to better understand the extent to which tobacco retailers andtobacco manufacturers share interests and identify where they diverge.Intervention or responseA reportand infographic was produced using three sources: Analysisof retail trade publications to assess the claims being made by tobaccocompanies regarding the retail environment. Analysisof point of sale data from independent tobacco retailers testing the claims oftobacco companies regarding the importance of tobacco sales to small retailers. Survey ofindependent tobacco retailers in Britain. This sought to better understand theexisting relationship between retailers and manufacturers, attitudes ofretailers towards tobacco control policies and the extent to which they agreedwith the positions taken by tobacco manufacturers regarding the retailenvironment. Results and lessons learntWhile tobaccosales accounted for 25% of total income, margins were around 6% compared to anaverage 24% for the other products. As such average weekly profit was only 1.6%of income. Little evidence to support manufacturers claims that tobacco drivesfootfall or that retailers should stock full range of brand variants.Conclusions and key recommendationsWedemonstrated that the existing and future interests of small retailers andmanufacturers are not aligned. We identified opportunities to encourage a moreresponsible approach to tobacco retailing aligning with public healthinterests.