Café Crème and Hamlet continue their dominance of the UK cigar market

The UK cigar market experienced a decline in volume and value sales through 2012, as a number of key factors took their toll on the industry.

Like all tobacco products, cigars have faced higher taxation over the past couple of years. The March 2012 budget added 10p to a pack of five small cigars, with cigars also seeing higher VAT introduced at the start of the year.

These tax increases also had a higher impact on cigar smokers due to ongoing economic uncertainty and higher VAT across the board, with many smokers thus facing eroded disposable incomes.

The retail display ban is expected to have a marked impact on cigars over the next five years. Prior to 2015, this ban will only impact larger retail outlets.

The next couple of years is thus expected to see a flurry of new product developments, as players seek to capitalise on retail displays in smaller outlets.

This partial retail display ban is also expected to result in convenience stores further gaining share in sales of cigars over the next few years.

According to a recent market report, 'Cigars in the United Kingdom,' the UK cigar market is jointly led by Gallaher and Henri Wintermans Cigars, accounting for volume shares of 29% and 28% respectively in 2012.

Gallaher chiefly owes its strength to the Hamlet range, which led cigars excluding cigarillos with a 28% volume share in 2012, and ranked second in cigarillos with a 22% volume share.

Following the widening of the ban in 2015, more established brands are expected to gain share, and it will be difficult to make consumers aware of new product developments.

Between 2015-2017 the two leading brands, Café Crème and Hamlet, are expected to further extend their lead of the UK cigar industry.

For mroe information ok the UK cigar market, see the latest research: UK Cigar Market

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