Tobacco Giant Philip Morris To Open More IQOS Retail Shops in South Africa

Tobacco giant Philip Morris is uping its game in South Africa. In 2020, the group says its investments in the country will exceed R650 million.

Known for its Marlboro and Chesterfield brands of cigarretes, Philip Morris is looking towards a different future, with its new smokeless device IQOS.

South Africa is one of the countries where IQOS is already launched, and where the company hopes to transition to a different kind of nicotine future, one where you don’t need to inhale any smoke.

“Despite challenging economic conditions, we’re investing to bring better, smoke-free alternatives to South Africa’s 10 million adult smokers. Our total investment from 2017 to 2020 will exceed R650 million and we plan to continue investing in the years to come. This underlines our ongoing commitment to the South African economy,” said Marcelo Nico, PMSA’s managing director.

The company has already opened 26 IQOS retail stores in the country since launching in 2017. 15 of those were added in 2019 alone, and more will be added this year, including some kiosks.

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Unlike other flavoured cigarette alternatives that have been controversial across the world, IQOS is not flavoured and is not targeting children.

“It’s a product for adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking cigarettes. While not risk-free, our heated tobacco technology emits an aerosol that reduces the level of harmful chemicals by 95% compared to cigarettes,” Nico added.

The IQOS device retails at R850 with the HeatSticks going for R39. 50 per pack of 20.

It remains to be seen whether IQOS will catch on in South Africa and on the continent in general.