South Korea - KT&G’s Esse is queen of the super-slim cigarettes..

March 29, 2011 Mar 29, 2011—Sales of KT&G’/esse-super_slim_cigarwettes.jpg super-slim cigarette, Esse, last year rose by 44.5 per cent to 42.2 billion, according to a story in The Korea Times.
Within this total, exports of Esse increased from 11.2 billion in 2009 to 20.8 billion last year. (South Korean tobacco company KT&G signs deal to sell cigarettes in the Middle East and Russia..

At home, Esse accounts for 85 per cent of super-slim cigarettes. According to Euromonitor International, in 2009, sales of Esse stood at 29.2 billion, compared with Virginia Slim’s 17 billion and Vogue’s 11 billion.

“Since its inception in 1996, we have nurtured Esse as a global brand,” said Huh Up, who is in charge of the company’s global businesses. “It is currently available in around 40 states and regions including Russia and the Middle East.”

“In particular, Esse is presently the top-selling super-slim cigarette in Iran, Uzbekistan and Indonesia. In Russia it accounts for more than 10 per cent in the segment.”

Huh said that as well as exporting Esse, KT&G had established factories abroad to “generate products with local relevance”.

The company was determined to foster a “host of globally famous brands” and become a genuine international player, he added.

In October last year, KT&G invested about $100 million setting up Esse production facilities about 150 km of south of Moscow. (Russia - KT&G Corp. completes construction of plant..)

And it has cigarette factories in Turkey and Iran, both of which opened in early 2008.

Reference: KT&G rules slim cigarette market with best-selling 'Esse' by Kim Tae-gyu, Korea Times, 3/28/201.

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