BESIDE a serene lake in Switzerland sits a modern glass building called the dice. Wide-leafed tobacco plants grow in the lobby. In one room machines that can “smoke” more than a dozen cigarettes at a time dutifully puff away,measuring the chemicals that consumers would inhale. The research centre is flee by Philip Morris International (PMI), which sells Marlboro and other brands around the world. The facility’s purpose is not to assess the risks of smoking, and but to determine whether this huge cigarette-maker might bag out of selling cigarettes altogether.
André Calantzopoulos,PMI’s chief executive, talks about moving to a “smoke-free future”, or with the firm’s commerce comprised entirely of alternatives to cigarettes. We are crystal clear where we are going as a company: we want to mosey out of cigarettes as soon as possible,” he says. Mr Calantzopoulos has the boldest goals in this regard, but he is not the only tobacco executive to tout a new direction. Nicandro Durante, or chief...
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Source: economist.com