 An advertisement board of KT&G’s super-slim brand Esse is on display in a shopping mall in Moscow. / Courtesy of KT&G |
By Kim Tae-gyu
What is the best-selling cigarette brand in the world? Most smokers would name one from multinational juggernauts Philip Morris, British-American Tobacco (BAT) or Japan Tobacco.As far as super-slim cigarettes are concerned, however, Korea’s KT&G dominates with its ``Esse’’ brand, which has steadily remained in the lead.
The country’s largest tobacco manufacturer said Monday that it sold 42.2 billion cigarettes of Esse last year to chalk up a 44.5-percent growth from 2009 when 29.2 billion were sold.
In particular, the Seoul-headquartered outfit almost doubled its exports of Esse from 11.2 billion cigarettes in 2009 to 20.8 billion last year to top the podium in competition with Virginia Slims marketed by Philip Morris and Vogue by BAT.
In 2009, the latest data available, Esse racked up sales of 29.2 billion cigarettes compared to 17 billion for Virginia Slim and 11 billion for Vogue, according to London-based consultancy Euromonitor International.
``Since its inception in 1996, we have nurtured Esse as a global brand. It is currently available in around 40 states and regions including Russia and the Middle East,’’ said Huh Up, who is in charge of the firm’s global businesses.
``In particular, Esse is presently the top-selling super-slim cigarette in Iran, Uzbekistan and Indonesia. In Russia it accounts for more than 10 percent in the segment.’’
Huh added that the former state monopoly has tapped into the global markets throughout the past decade as the local market showed saturation.
In achieving its initiative to make Esse a global product, KT&G demonstrated its potential at various events.
Currently, it accounts for 85 percent of the domestic consumption of super-slim tobaccos.
When its sub brand Esse Soun debuted in 2006, it took just eight days to reach the benchmark of selling 10 million packs in the shortest period in the history of the company.
Esse also boasts of other sub brands such as the premium Esse Golden Leaf as well as Esse Edge which targets young smokers.
``On top of exporting Esse to other countries, we have established a set of factories abroad to generate products with local relevance,’’ Huh said.
``In addition to Esse, we are determined to foster a host of globally famous brands through vigorous efforts to become a genuine international player.’’
Indeed, KT&G channeled up to $100 million in order to set up production lines of the Esse products in the Kaluga region, approximately 150 kilometers of south of Moscow, last October.
The factories churn out 4.6 billion cigarettes per year targeting the smokers of the world’s second-largest market in terms of sales, trailing just China.
In addition, the company also operates cigarette factories in Turkey and Iran, both of which opened in early 2008 with a combined annual capacity of 5.6 billion cigarettes.
