Get on board!

The festive season is the ticket to sparkling tobacco sales – have you got yours?

Sit down and buckle up! It’s time to board the Christmas express – the annual ticket to sparkling footfall, sales and profits – and 2025 is promising to be a ride to remember.

At Christmas time, indulgence takes centre stage, with shoppers increasingly driven by the desire to treat and be treated as the season climbs towards its celebratory peak.

One category that tends to sizzle thanks to the desire to treat and trade up at Christmas is, of course, tobacco – specifically cigars.

“It’s well known that cigar sales enjoy an upward trajectory over the Christmas period when many adult smokers like to enjoy one as part of their festive celebrations,” Prianka Jhingan, Head of Marketing at Scandinavian Tobacco Group says.

“It’s typically larger cigars that people will gravitate towards as a bit of a Christmas treat when they are in celebratory mood and typically have more time to enjoy it.

“My advice at this time of year is always make sure you have brands like our Henri Wintermans Half Corona in stock, as it is easily the UK’s best-selling medium/large cigar and has a loyal following due to its quality blend and heritage.”

Cigarillos should also certainly not be overlooked. At £154m, the category is worth almost half the value of the total cigar market – and easily the largest of the four segments in terms of volume. The last couple of years have been strong ones for STG’s Signature Action cigarillo brand – in fact, sales have almost doubled since last year, “with adult smokers appreciating the great flavour and cheaper price point, compared to other brands in the market,” STG’s Jhingan adds.

Flavoured cigarillos continue to score with adult smokers – a fact which prompted STG to launch Signature Action Mix cigarillos at the start of the year.

Containing two capsules, which combine the flavours of Berry and Mint, Signature Action Mix are available in 10-packs with an RSP of £5.85.

And that’s not all. “We recently announced the expansion of our Signature Action menthol capsule range with the introduction of a new 17-pack format which has been available to retailers since August,” Jhingan adds.

“This latest addition complements the existing two 10-pack offerings, providing consumers with greater choice and value, but features the same menthol flavour that has been synonymous with the brand since its launch back in 2020.

“With an RSP of £9.89, including a price-marked version, the new 17-pack delivers value to consumers, positioning it as a competitively priced option in the market. It also offers an attractive margin for retailers, reinforcing STG UK’s commitment to supporting its trade partners with high-quality, high-demand products.”

Accessories offer more opportunities to unwrap

Sticking with the Christmas theme, tobacco accessories are another gift that just keeps giving – especially in Scotland.

In fact, the Scottish tobacco accessories category is continuing to outperform the UK as a whole, valued at more than £45m and growing at 18% year-on-year according to Republic Technologies.

At £13m, the papers sector continues to perform well, with value sales up 10.9% on last year.

Republic Technologies has made its mark on the sector this year by offering consumers more choice within its environmentally friendly OCB range.

The brand has undergone a pack refresh across its full range, with the new modernised designs enabling clearer product differentiation.

Republic Technologies has also been nailing its colours to the environmental mast in the filters sector, which is valued at almost £5m, with the rollout of Just Paper plastic-free Swan filter tips.

In what it describes as a “category-boosting first for tobacco accessories,” Just Paper Swan Filters provide adult smokers with an experience that “is similar to traditional cellulose acetate filters, but with a much lower environmental impact”.

The Swan Just Paper range features a ‘flip-a-tip’ design which dispenses loose extra slim filters, without the use of plastic rods. Each box contains 120 filters, with 10 boxes per outer, with an RSP of £1.45 per consumer unit.

“Choice, innovation and quality are well-established drivers of the tobacco accessories category and the Just Paper range delivers in each of those areas,” Gavin Anderson, Sales & Marketing Director at Republic Technologies says.

“The range has advanced the development of filter tips by offering roll-your-own consumers a product which not only delivers on performance, but which also has a significantly reduced impact on the environment.”