11/10/12

Plain facts of cigarette packs opened my eyes to effects on small businesses

by Jo James - chief executive of Kent Invicta Chamber

I had a meeting with a representative from Phillip Morris Ltd to give my view on plain packaging for cigarettes.

To be honest, it wasn't something to which I had given a lot of thought. I believe this is being looked into as the next step to follow on from the point-of-sale display ban.

I know how inconvenient this has proved - only last week I queued up in the supermarket to get my lottery ticket, but it took me twice as long as usual because the cashier was continually opening and closing the cupboard to serve cigarettes.

Whether or not putting them out of sight has reduced the number sold, I have no idea.

I think the government needs to do more to discourage smoking as the cost to our NHS service for smoking-related conditions is a continual burden.

Hiding them away - like some sort of dirty secret - is one way, putting them in plain packets could be seen as another way.

That's assuming people buy for the look of the pack, rather than the content inside. Thinking about it, if cigarettes were to come in plain packets then the cost of production must go down. Will that saving be passed on to the customer?

Is this the way to stop young people getting into the habit? It's probably going to be ineffective for existing adult smokers as they know their brand and probably don't really care what the pack looks like.

I remember many, many years ago when my Nan used to smoke, it was all the rage to have your cigarette pack inside a pretty case. You don't see many of these cases on sale now – perhaps there's a business opportunity here!

Anyway, back to the meeting. My eyes were opened to the potential effects on smaller retailers.

It will of course increase the customer transaction time if all the packets look the same.

And while the shop assistant's back is turned, would this not increase the opportunity for shoplifting?

Counterfeiting will be made much easier, which would put smokers' health further at risk, as who knows what could be put inside cigarettes.

Education costs money, but is it a better route? After the meeting, did I think plain packaging will cost jobs, and taxpayers billions of pounds?

If it increases black market activity, then probably yes. When people pop to their local shop and buy their cigarettes, they may also buy a paper and a few groceries. Would they in future bother going to their local shop? If not, traders could lose out to the supermarket giants.