Japan Tobacco International (JTI) will launch its heated tobacco product Ploom in the Greek market, according to Greek media Businessdaily.
JTI will invest $3 billion to accelerate Ploom’s global expansion, and Greece will be the first market for Ploom, with JTI branches in Greece also covering Cyprus and Malta.
Announced at a JTI event in Athens, Vassilis Vovos, vice president and chief financial officer of JTI Group, said Ploom, which was launched in Japan a year ago, “has had very good results.” According to Vovos, JTI aims to launch Ploom in 25 countries and plans to invest $3 billion to do so. To develop additional heating products, JTI will invest 2 billion euros over the three years 2023-2025.
Vovos also mentioned the performance of the acquired Greek tobacco factory SEKAP, which has been under JTI’s control since 2018. JTI invested $30 million to modernize its machines and increase its production capacity from 700 million cigarettes to 5 billion cigarettes, 76% of which are exported to EU countries.
Two ministers of the Greek Government, Minister Costas Skrekas and Minister Adonis Georgiades, attended the JTI event.