US. Speaking in Orlando at the Duty Free Show of the Americas, British American Tobacco said its travel retail sales had visibly stabilised in Latin America after months of turmoil and were getting back into positive territory. “It was a crisis that affected the whole region but deepest in Argentina and Brazil followed by Venezuela and Columbia,” BAT senior account sales executive Jessie Shannon-Bulica told The Moodie Report. “Sales are now stable comparing a two to three month period, rather than six months.”
BAT also noted that the regional crisis had lead to a change in spending patterns as different social groups felt the economic squeeze last year. “The targets changed, with the middle demographic spending less, but the top level constant,” said Shannon-Bulica.
Kent is the group’s major focus and leading brand in the Americas, followed by Lucky Strike, Dunhill and others including Cartier, Rothman’s and Benson & Hedges. In addition BAT sells some brands in travel retail that are not available in domestic markets. Kent has a particularly strong franchise in Chile, where it has a 7% domestic market share. Lucky Strike is dominant in Argentina where it has a 2.5% domestic market share and in Chile where it has a 3-4% domestic market share. BAT said Kent had a very successful launch in the Mexican domestic market three months ago.
The group’s different regional business teams, for example those from Argentina and the Caribbean, got together successfully during the Orlando show. New brand gondola displays for BAT brands are under discussion with Weitnauer Mexico and Aldeasa Chile.
