This article is brought to you by Kretek International Inc.

Since 1983, Kretek International Inc. has been providing tobacco products and accessories that deliver a profitable market basket to its trade partners.

Albert Jose is Kretek’s senior VP of marketing and sales, a position he’s held for the past five years. During his tenure, he’s helped navigate Kretek’s commitment to nicotine-free smokes for the U.S. market, the growth of the Cuban Rounds premium cigar brand and the relaunch of Clipper lighters. Through it all, he’s kept a firm focus on Kretek’s trade partnerships and the innovation it takes to grow. According to Jose, the quality and uniqueness of Kretek brands has kept pace with constantly shifting preferences and regulations and will be integral to building the trial, adoption and loyalty it takes to thrive.

The tobacco backbar is shrinking by $2 billion a year. What’s Kretek’s approach moving forward?

Backbar sales volume may be shrinking, but the number and variety of SKUs has doubled. Right now, most tobacco product innovations are SKUs that aren’t tobacco—they’re new products that are mainly driven by discreet use, health concerns and price. As these products continue to emerge on the backbar, consumer preferences are changing to both tobacco and tobacco-free products. Researchers actually invented the term polyusers so the migration from cigarettes to nicotine alternatives would make sense.

For quite a few years, tobacco regulation has been an on-again, off-again effort. How is Kretek dealing with this?

We’ve moved much of our business outside of FDA rulemaking. We’ve coupled our Cuban Rounds imported premium cigars with Djarum filtered cigars, and added nicotine-free botanical filtered smokes, refillable, reusable lighters and non-tobacco wraps and cones.

Administrations change—our goal is to be ready with products that can be part of a smoker’s market basket when the FDA redraws their rulemaking and as more states impose their own bans.

Continue reading “The Backbar of the Future Offers More Than Nicotine” in the July 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.