An employee prunes cannabis
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LONDON – British American Tobacco is considering selling cannabis products as it seeks to find new sources of income beyond cigarettes and vaping.
Kingsley Wheaton, the company’s chief marketing officer, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of the consumer spaces it’s looking at.
CBD is an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant, a cousin of the marijuana plant. Its health benefits have been widely touted by manufacturers, but scientists say more research needs to be done.
“We are indeed going to think about, and we are going beyond just the tobacco and nicotine space,” said Wheaton, adding that CBD is “an exciting growth area for our business going forward.”
Wheaton’s comments come shortly after two cannabis companies were listed on the London Stock Exchange, but BAT remains cautious.
“It’s a very different regulatory landscape as you travel around the world and many markets are still inaccessible for regulatory reasons right now,” said Wheaton.
“We make a very big distinction between CBD and other forms of cannabis,” he said. “We are interested in CBD. But I think the bigger point is that we are trying to build the portfolio of the future for our company. We are trying to build the brands of the future. We are trying to meet the needs of consumers. that smoking met a new, transformed portfolio. “
BAT launched a CBD vape product called Vuse in January that is available in mint, mango, and berry flavors, and it has two strengths: 50mg and 100mg.
The Vuse product is being sold through a pilot in Manchester. “It’s here now,” Wheaton said. “We test and learn and understand that.”
Shares of British American Tobacco fell 5.7% Wednesday morning, despite the world’s second-largest tobacco group beating its earnings expectations for the clock.
He added that the pandemic has enabled BAT to “radically shake up” the way it does business and transform it from “a tobacco company to a more technology-related company”.