Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/680631
MARCH 2016 TOBACCO INTERNATIONAL 21 so it's growing very fast, according to plans. In tobacco heating products, we launched glo iFuse in Romania, also less than two months ago. The first results are encouraging. We expect to expand the distribution to Romania during the year and expand to other markets at the end of the year. This product is very exciting. And we also have a new product that we'll launch at the end of the year in this space. Also, we have Vogue as a medicinal license product. We are the only company in the world to have a licensed e-ciga- rette, and we expect to launch this during the year as well. I think at the end of the day, the consumers will decide which is the best product, and I think that there will be space in the industry for the three categories. What's the outlook for 2016? Durante : We started the year very well. We came from 2015 with very good momentum in terms of share growth. We grew share more than 40 basis points. We grew share in the premium segment, 150 basis points, so we are coming to 2016 with very good momentum. The second half of last year was quite strong in volume and share, so we are bringing this good momentum for 2016. Of course, we still face some currency headwinds, mainly on the transactional side, but I expect that we will deliver our high single-f igure earnings grow th that has been our target for many years and that we have been deliv- ering for many years. BAT completed its acquisition of Po- land's Chic Group in late 2015, provid- ing BAT with access to Europe's largest vapor products retailing network. The market-leading vapor product business founded in 2007 has 800 points of sale in Poland and Europe, comprising a franchise network of mall stores and kiosks as well as a modern e-commerce site, eSmokingWorld.com which operates in Polish, German, and English language versions. Additionally, Chic Group has a dedicated e-liquids production facility, a modern research and development center and leading Polish e-cigarette brands including Volish, P1, Provog, Cottien, LiQueen and Aromativ. The move provided BAT not only with important manufacturing and R&D capabilities, but scale and market reach through Europe's largest e-cigarette retailing network that the company has already tapped to launch and market its own Vype-brand products. BAT's Chic Group Acquisition: Tapping into the European Vapor Market BAT's approach to next generation products (NGP) is three-pronged: the vapor segment, where it launched Vype eTank system last year (above, left); tobacco heating products segment, where it launched Kent glo iF- use in Romania (above, right); and medicinal, where it holds the world's only licensed e-cigarette, Vogue, which will launch this year. Above: An Indonesian tobacco farmer. While BAT does not own tobacco farms or directly employ farmers, it buys more than 400,000 tons of tobacco each year from some 90,000 contracted farmers and third-party suppliers, mainly in developing countries and emerging economies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.