Australia tobacco sales increase despite plain packaging
Deliveries of tobacco to retailers in Australia rose slightly last year for the first time in at least five years, even after the introduction of plain packaging aimed at deterring smokers, according to industry sales figures to be released on Monday.... In 2013, the first full year of plain packaging, tobacco companies sold the equivalent of 21.074 billion cigarettes in Australia, according to industry data provided by Marlboro maker Philip Morris International.That marks a 0.3 per cent increase from 2012, and reverses four straight years of declines.
The exact reason for the upturn was unclear. Some tobacco companies argue that higher shipments of loose tobacco and a decline in cigarettes suggest smokers may be trading down to cheaper products and can therefore afford to buy more of them.
It seems that people buy tobacco for the tobacco, not the packet. Who'd have thunk it?
Add this rise in legal tobacco sales to the rise in illegal sales and it would appear that the Nicola Roxon/Simon Chapman vanity project is suffering from lots of unintended consequences and no intended consequences.