LAS VEGAS and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAAT™ GLOBAL ALTERNATIVES INC. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQX: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP) (the “Company” or “TAAT™”) is pleased to announce that Green Global Earth (“GGE”), the exclusive TAAT™ distributor for the U.K. and Ireland who recently placed a CAD $1,075,000 purchase order in addition to its previous CAD $149,000 order as announced in the Company’s August 20, 2021 press release, has issued an additional purchase order for €360,000 (approximately CAD $536,000) for a full shipping container of TAAT™ to be distributed in Australia. Last year, the Company proactively applied for trademarks in Australia as well as dozens of international jurisdictions as described in a press release dated December 31, 2020.
With Australia having the highest average price of a tobacco cigarette pack in the world (the equivalent of USD $25.12 for a 20-pack of Marlboro, compared to USD $8.00 in the United States1), the Company has long contemplated launching TAAT™ in this market to capitalize on its competitive price point as a non-tobacco product. Current estimates indicate that TAAT™ will retail for approximately 30% less than tobacco cigarettes in Australia. TAAT™ could also gain a competitive advantage in Australia from its ability to be sold in branded packaging, as Australian law requires tobacco cigarettes to be sold in “plain packaging”. Because Australia was the first country in the world to impose plain packaging requirements based on a 2011 law2, the Company believes the colourful TAAT™ packs can be especially eye-catching for smokers of legal age in Australia who have become accustomed to the uniform appearance of “plain packaging” for tobacco cigarettes.
At this time, the Company and GGE are in the process of finalizing certain elements of the launch plan for TAAT™ in Australia (e.g., taxation, compliant packaging, legal considerations in each state and territory). In the event that GGE’s initial supply of TAAT™ for the U.K. and Ireland approaches depletion before the Australia launch plans are approved, GGE intends to allocate the Australian container order for distribution in the U.K. and Ireland.
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TAAT™ Chief Executive Officer Setti Coscarella commented, “The global interest in TAAT™ from smokers of legal age grows daily, and this Australian opportunity is a testament to that popularity. Australia has been of interest to us as a potential expansion market for TAAT™ for some time now. A major reason for this is our ability to sell TAAT™ in most markets for significantly less than the price of tobacco cigarettes. This will have a larger impact in a market where smokers of legal age pay more per pack than anywhere else in the world. There have been several successive increases to tobacco cigarette prices in Australia in recent years, and we believe that in addition to providing a cost savings, TAAT™ can prove to be a better alternative to tobacco cigarettes for smokers of legal age who aspire to leave nicotine behind. We are very impressed with GGE’s ability to generate interest in TAAT™ in multiple markets globally, which can put TAAT™ in its third continent since it was first launched in Ohio at the end of 2020.”
Sources
1 - https://www.statista.com/chart/15293/price-for-cigarettes-per-country/
2 - https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/plain-packaging-in-australia/
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/08/27/2287879/0/en/TAAT-to-be-Sold-on-Three-Continents-with-Australian-Container-Order-Valued-at-CAD-536-000.html