British American Tobacco invested 2.5 billion dollars in the glo device, now also available in Romania | Progresiv
British American Tobacco (BAT) Romania launched glo locally, a 240° C tobacco heating device for adult smokers and made up of a special device and tobacco sticks. For researching and then creating this product, BAT has invested about 2.5 billion dollars over the past six years. 
"British American Tobacco is the leader in the tobacco market in Romania, with a market share of 55%, Kent brand representing about a quarter of total national consumption. The glo™ launch in Romania, for the first time in the European Union, complements the company's portfolio with a new, innovative product that has the potential to be significantly less harmful than traditional cigarettes", said Richard Widmann, Area Director of British American Tobacco Southern Central Europe.
The product is already successful in Japan where, according to the company, 1 in 10 smokers replaced the cigarette smoking with glo in Sendai, one of the largest cities in Japan and one where glo was launched in December 2016. Also, 60% of the market share growth of the category of products that heat the tobacco in Japan is due to glo.
The new BAT product is a similar innovation to the Iqos device launched by Philip Morris two years ago. What is, however, different? BAT states that the main advantage of glo is simplicity, being a single device, a single button, no external charging device, and a fully charged battery that is enough to consume up to 30 Neostiks.
Unconventional cigarettes that can be used in the glo machine are called Kent Neostiks and will be available in three different flavors: "Bright Tobacco" (tobacco flavor), "Citric Mix" (citrus flavor) and "Fresh Mix" (menthol).
The glo device is now available across the country on www.glo.ro. Also, with this release, the company also invested in a dedicated store, "glo store", set up in Baneasa Shopping City in Bucharest. The promotional price of the first purchase of the device, along with 10 packages of Kent Neostiks, is 200 Lei. A package of Kent Neostiks will be sold at a price comparable to that of a pack of cigarettes (17 lei).
Prior to this product, BAT introduced "Kent glo iFUSE" on the market, an alternative for traditional cigarettes using hybrid technology (use of vapor from nicotine fluid to heat up tobacco).
In Romania, BAT is the largest player in the tobacco market, its main brand being Kent. In 2016, BAT Romania reported business of 8.1 billion lei, up by 11% from the previous year, and the company's profit last year was over 672 million lei, an increase of about 55% compared to 2015.
The company is the second largest contributor to Romania's state budget. BAT annually contributes about 1.6 billion euros in the form of excise duties and taxes (out of a total of 3 billion euros, the total contribution of the tobacco industry).
