India - Barakat Food will import and distribute Imperial's Davidoff Cigarettes..

May 11, 2010 - Barakat Food & Tobacco (BFAT) today said it has tied up with the UK-based Imperial Tobacco Group for selling the latter''s ''Davidoff'' brand of cigarettes in India. "UK''s Imperial Tobacco Group and Mumabi-based Barakat Food & Tobacco today announced that they have entered into an import and distribution agreement for the Davidoff cigarette brand in India," the domestic firm said in a statement.
Davidoff cigarettes will be available in the "Classic" and "Gold" premium line versions and will be distributed in a number of key cities across the country, it added. "It is a privilege to bring Davidoff cigarettes into India.

Imperial Tobacco's international experience combined with our knowledge of local market will provide discerning adult smokers in India with a high quality product," Barakat Food & Tobacco Director Faiz Rai said. Barakat specialises in marketing and distribution FMCG products and its core competencies are in food and tobacco sectors.

Imperial Tobacco, which is present in over 160 countries, manufactures and sells a range of products, including cigarettes, rolling papers, filter tubes and cigars.

Gareth Davis, the chief executive of Imperial, said: "Davidoff is our key international strategic premium cigarette brand and an important growth driver for the business. We have achieved considerable success with Davidoff cigarettes, increasing global volumes in the last four years." (Imperial Tobacco in €540m deal for Davidoff trademark by Julia Kollewe, Independent.co.uk, 8/24/2006)

Reference: Barakat Food to sell ''Davidoff'' cigarettes in India, Yahoo News - Express India, 5/10/2010.

Some Davidoff related news briefs:
South Korea - KT&G forms alliance with Imperial Tobacco Group..;
Commonwealth Brands Inc., the fourth-biggest cigarette maker in the United States, is introducing two Davidoff Slim cigarette styles;
Look for Imperial's Davidoff cigarettes to take market share from Marlboro cigarettes..;
Davidoff Cigarettes Takes Award for ‘Best Packaging & Design’..;
Imperial Tobacco Gets Approval to Sell Brands in U.S..;