LAS VEGAS and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAAT™ GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES INC. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQX: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP) (the “Company” or “TAAT™”) is pleased to announce that as of the third week of March 2022 more than 2,500 retail stores in the United States are carrying TAAT™ Original, Smooth, and Menthol. In its January 11, 2022 press release, the Company announced that its U.S. store count had surpassed 2,000 within approximately one year of launching TAAT™ at retail in Ohio in late December 2020. Based on this recent performance, the Company has added an average of approximately 45 new U.S. stores per week in 2022. TAAT™ continues to leverage its network of distributors to further expand its store count and cultivate a strong presence at the point of sale to encourage first-time and repeat purchases of TAAT™ products in place of tobacco cigarettes.
For clarity, the current U.S. store count of at least 2,500 TAAT™ retailers does not include establishments that have purchased TAAT™ on a wholesale basis through channels that do not supply retailer account data (e.g., select distributors who choose not to report such information, “cash-and-carry” warehouses that do not capture purchaser details). As such, the Company’s overall footprint in the United States is believed to be larger than the 2,500 stores confirmed as of this week. Furthermore, in addition to brick-and-mortar retailing, the Company also distributes TAAT™ directly to consumers through its TryTAAT e-commerce platform, allowing the majority of smokers in the U.S. to order TAAT™ for home delivery. Through parallel marketing initiatives such as TAAT™ billboards being placed in select markets, TAAT™ is seeking to fortify macro-level awareness of its brand to further establish itself in the mainstream range of tobacco product offerings.
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TAAT™ Founder Joe Deighan commented, “Now that we are a proven brand in the tobacco category, retailers are far more willing to carry TAAT™ in their stores, maintain an ample supply (i.e., more than a test inventory of a few packs), and place TAAT™ in high-visibility spots for consumers to see. Although products such as TAAT™ are fairly easy to place in independent smoke shops, there are more nuances when it comes to building a presence in the convenience category, which is where the bulk of smokable products are sold. Our commercialization strategies have therefore focused on appealing to the buyers and merchandisers in the convenience channel, who understand how TAAT™ is optimally positioned relative to legacy tobacco cigarette offerings. With consumers continuing to walk into stores across the country looking for TAAT™, retailers are recognizing that it is important for our product to be placed in a prime space on their cigarette display racks. This is not just to give the customers what they want, it’s also because our retailers make significantly better profit margins on TAAT™ than they do on packs of tobacco cigarettes such as Marlboro. That is, they have a financial incentive to convert their clientele to TAAT™ because doing so will be significantly more lucrative for them in the long run. By offering a win-win all around for wholesalers, retailers, and consumers alike, TAAT™ has enjoyed continued growth of its market share as an innovative provider of a better choice for current smokers.”
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,