New Zealand plans to outlaw tobacco sales to citizens born after 2008

IntroductionNew Zealand’s Smokefree 2025 goal aims to greatly decrease the availability of tobacco. One option is to cease the sale of tobacco from convenience stores. However, tobacco companies and retail trade associations oppose this move and have argued that customers who purchase tobacco drive footfall and spend more than non-tobacco customers. The aim of this study is to test the validity of industry claims about the importance of tobacco to convenience stores.MethodsDuring November and December 2019, immediate postpurchase surveys were undertaken with customers on exit from a random sample of 100 convenience stores in two New Zealand cities. We estimated the mean number of items purchased, including tobacco and non-tobacco items, and mean expenditure on non-tobacco items.ResultsOf the 3399 transactions recorded, 13.8% included tobacco, of which 8.3% comprised tobacco only and 5.5% included tobacco and non-tobacco items. The mean number of transactions containing both tobacco and non-tobacco items was 1.98, and 1.87 for those containing non-tobacco items only. Customers who purchased tobacco and non-tobacco items spent on average NZ$6.99 on non-tobacco items, whereas customers who purchased non-tobacco items only, spent on average NZ$5.07.ConclusionsOur results do not support claims that tobacco drives one-quarter of footfall into stores or that customers who purchase tobacco spend almost twice as much as non-tobacco customers. Combined purchases of tobacco and non-tobacco items constituted 5.5% of transactions; the impact on a store’s profitability of removing tobacco sales is unknown and could be the focus of future research.

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Prevalence and characteristics of tobacco purchases in convenience stores: results of a postpurchase intercept survey in Dunedin, New Zealand

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054643 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (6) ◽

pp. 696-700 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lindsay Robertson ◽

Claire Cameron ◽

Janet A Hoek ◽

Trudy Sullivan ◽

Louise Marsh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Descriptive Statistics ◽

Convenience Store ◽

Tobacco Products ◽

Trade Associations ◽

Tobacco Sales ◽

Convenience Stores ◽

Intercept Survey ◽

The Mean ◽

The Cost

IntroductionArguments regarding the importance of tobacco to convenience stores could impede the adoption of tobacco retail reduction policies. Although trade associations argue tobacco constitutes two-thirds of convenience store sales and drives footfall, few studies have tested these claims. We therefore examined the prevalence and characteristics of tobacco purchases at convenience stores in Dunedin, New Zealand.MethodsWe conducted a postpurchase survey at 20 convenience stores, each visited for three 60 min intervals over a 4-week period. We used descriptive statistics to determine proportions and 95% CIs of transactions that contained tobacco and those that contained only non-tobacco items. We estimated the mean number of items purchased, the mean number of non-tobacco items purchased and mean expenditure on non-tobacco items.ResultsFourteen per cent of transactions contained tobacco (n=95/679); of those, 64% comprised tobacco only. Only 5% of all transactions included both tobacco and non-tobacco products. The mean number of non-tobacco items purchased was 1.9 for transactions containing only non-tobacco products and 1.7 for transactions containing both tobacco and non-tobacco products. After excluding the cost of tobacco, people who purchased tobacco and non-tobacco products spent on average $5.11 on non-tobacco items, whereas people who purchased only non-tobacco items spent on average $6.85.ConclusionsTobacco products constitute a small proportion of items purchased from Dunedin convenience stores and are typically not purchased with non-tobacco items. Our findings are inconsistent with arguments that most small retailers rely on tobacco sales.

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Flavor Capsule Variants’ Performance in a “Dark Market”: Implications for Standardized Packaging

Nicotine & Tobacco Research ◽

10.1093/ntr/nty158 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 853-856 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kerri Haggart ◽

Janet Hoek ◽

Mei-Ling Blank

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Growth Patterns ◽

Product Portfolio ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Tobacco Marketing ◽

Tobacco Sales ◽

Parent Brand ◽

Philip Morris ◽

Brand Portfolio ◽

Progressive Policy

Abstract Background By increasing excise taxes, eliminating tobacco marketing, and requiring standardized (plain) packaging of tobacco products, governments internationally have reduced smoking’s allure. Yet product innovations, such as flavor capsule variants (FCVs), remain unregulated and may appeal to non-smokers. We examined the growth of FCVs in a country with a progressive policy environment. Methods Each year, New Zealand tobacco companies must provide details of the number of cigarette sticks released for each brand and variant to the Ministry of Health. We used this information to analyze FCVs’ performance for British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International (PMI), which account for a large proportion of New Zealand tobacco sales. We report the quantity released of each variant and share of parent brand portfolio, and examine growth patterns within the premium, everyday, and value market subsections. Results BAT introduced FCVs in 2012 and by 2014 offered FCVs in all market subsections; PMI introduced a Marlboro FCV in 2014. FCVs grew rapidly relative to unflavored variants and, by 2017, represented nearly 10% of BAT’s product portfolio and more than 3% of PMI’s product portfolio. By 2017, FCVs accounted for more than a third of the Dunhill sticks released, 14% of Holiday, and 17% of Pall Mall. Conclusions FCVs’ rapid growth may have reduced declines in the numbers of sticks released. Policy makers should disallow FCV innovations, which offer no health benefits to smokers and may instead attract non-smokers to smoking. Where timely, these regulations could be incorporated into standardized packaging policies. Implications FCVs have grown quickly in countries with comprehensive tobacco marketing restrictions, which suggests tobacco companies are now focusing on novel product designs to attract new smokers. Standardized packaging regulations could address both external packaging and stick design innovations, such as FCVs; alternatively, specific regulations prohibiting FCVs may be required.

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Magellanic Cloud Eclipsing Binaries: Primary Distance Indicators

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s007418090011900x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 190 ◽

pp. 563-566

Author(s):

J. D. Pritchard ◽

W. Tobin ◽

J. V. Clausen ◽

E. F. Guinan ◽

E. L. Fitzpatrick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Magellanic Cloud ◽

Eclipsing Binaries ◽

Fundamental Parameters ◽

Distance Indicators

Our collaboration involves groups in Denmark, the U.S.A. Spain and of course New Zealand. Combining ground-based and satellite (IUEandHST) observations we aim to determine accurate and precise stellar fundamental parameters for the components of Magellanic Cloud Eclipsing Binaries as well as the distances to these systems and hence the parent galaxies themselves. This poster presents our latest progress.

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Heat-Etching with a Bullivant Type II Simple Freeze-Cleave Device

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100067522 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 106-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ronald S. Weinstein ◽

N. Scott McNutt

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

General Hospital ◽

Massachusetts General Hospital ◽

Type I ◽

Type Ii ◽

Collaborative Effort ◽

Temperature And Pressure ◽

The University

The Type I simple cold block device was described by Bullivant and Ames in 1966 and represented the product of the first successful effort to simplify the equipment required to do sophisticated freeze-cleave techniques. Bullivant, Weinstein and Someda described the Type II device which is a modification of the Type I device and was developed as a collaborative effort at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The modifications reduced specimen contamination and provided controlled specimen warming for heat-etching of fracture faces. We have now tested the Mass. General Hospital version of the Type II device (called the “Type II-MGH device”) on a wide variety of biological specimens and have established temperature and pressure curves for routine heat-etching with the device.

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A Cytochemical Study of Glucose-6-Phosphatase (G-6-PASE) in Cells Participating in Atherogenesis of Rabbit Aorta

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100115924 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 33 ◽

pp. 460-461

Author(s):

Sidney D. Kobernick ◽

Edna A. Elfont ◽

Neddra L. Brooks

Keyword(s):

Lipid Metabolism ◽

New Zealand ◽

Aortic Wall ◽

Rabbit Aorta ◽

Plaque Formation ◽

Metabolic Changes ◽

Atherosclerotic Plaques ◽

Cytochemical Study ◽

Cellular Alteration ◽

New Zealand White Rabbits

This cytochemical study was designed to investigate early metabolic changes in the aortic wall that might lead to or accompany development of atherosclerotic plaques in rabbits. The hypothesis that the primary cellular alteration leading to plaque formation might be due to changes in either carbohydrate or lipid metabolism led to histochemical studies that showed elevation of G-6-Pase in atherosclerotic plaques of rabbit aorta. This observation initiated the present investigation to determine how early in plaque formation and in which cells this change could be observed.Male New Zealand white rabbits of approximately 2000 kg consumed normal diets or diets containing 0.25 or 1.0 gm of cholesterol per day for 10, 50 and 90 days. Aortas were injected jin situ with glutaraldehyde fixative and dissected out. The plaques were identified, isolated, minced and fixed for not more than 10 minutes. Incubation and postfixation proceeded as described by Leskes and co-workers.

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