A few months ago, the P&C website announced that "sadly, due to some new regulations that are coming, all of the current Hearth and Home Marquee blends will disappear from the market." The announcement continued by stating that "if you smoke these blends on a regular basis or have wanted to try a few, now is the time... we are providing you the best opportunity to stock up and save over the next 2 months with this Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer." Now, a few months later, the doom and gloom seems to have vanished and I can find little proof that P&C ever published this! H&H Marquee products are readily available on the P&C site with no indication of scarcity (no back-orders or out-of-stocks). Does anyone know if something profoundly changed or was the apocalyptic doomsaying a sales ploy to take advantage of already-skittish pipers? I hope, hope, hope that the latter is not true, but, I am having difficulty finding evidence to the contrary. Back in July, another pipe tobacco company here in Pennsylvania similarly announced that they were going to cease production in August... however, as in the case of the H&H/P&C, there is no evidence that production even slowed! As in the case of H&H, their goods are plentiful online and talk of discontinued products have vanished. Have things dramatically improved for pipe and cigar smokers or was this summer's 'pipe tobacco apocalypse' grossly blown out of proportion up to increase tobacco sales?
Is Hearth & Home's Marquee Line Actually Going Away?
- Thread starter thatshychef
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The way the FDA rules are they can conceivably sell for 2 more years before being forced from the market. Chances are they'll draw down all their stock months before that.
Sales ploy, possibly but then buy two and get one free is not exactly a bad deal with it being 33.33% off.
After they discontinued Angler's Dream, I really didn't have a reason to order from them anymore, not to mention the number of botched orders I received.
As the FDA final ruling now stands, the Marquee Series will likely be gone by August 8, 2018. It's likely that production will cease long before that date to avoid unsold stock on the shelves. Also, keep in mind that some "endangered" blends that are not big sellers will be discontinued earlier to allow better selling blends to be produced in greater quantity before being allowed to run out. We're already seeing that weeding out process.
So you might find that some of the Marquee blends remain available through early 2018 while others disappear much earlier. It all hinges on sales volume.
So you might find that some of the Marquee blends remain available through early 2018 while others disappear much earlier. It all hinges on sales volume.
They will be gone by August 2018. Although they have been very good sellers for us, you have to look at things from a relative viewpoint. We could submit them for approval, but at a cost of $30,000 per blend, or more, we would probably have to double or triple the price to remain profitable, not to mention that they could just not approve it anyway. I feel that these are some of my best work, and I will be very sad to see them go.
Russ
Russ
Russ, that's just terrible. Have you are anyone from CI contacted anyone in Congress? Your story, I think, would be very compelling.
You might have heard that Glynn Quelch over in the UK has shut down his budding tobacco blending business because of similar regulations there. It's just awful.
I'm not a big Latakia smoker, but Fusilier's Ration is just masterpiece of the blender's art -- so sad to see that one go.
You might have heard that Glynn Quelch over in the UK has shut down his budding tobacco blending business because of similar regulations there. It's just awful.
I'm not a big Latakia smoker, but Fusilier's Ration is just masterpiece of the blender's art -- so sad to see that one go.
Our company has been very active in lobbying and joining industry efforts to fight the regulations. We also put a push on with our customers to contact their legislators, and of course, we have written them ourselves. Unfortunately, Big Tobacco (the cigarette companies) can spend a lot more, and they were behind the push that hurt premium cigars and pipe tobacco through these new regulations. We just happen to be collateral damage.
Russ
That's interesting. Why would cigarette companies be behind this? (I'm genuinely curious, I don't doubt it for a moment).
Edit to add: what do they gain from it? Surely cigar and pipes smokers won't come running to cigarettes if they can't get their premium tobacco blends.
Edit to add: what do they gain from it? Surely cigar and pipes smokers won't come running to cigarettes if they can't get their premium tobacco blends.
The big tobacco companies aren't interested in turning premium cigar or pipe smokers into cigarette smokers. They see the increasing numbers of these and want in on the action, which by big business terms means they want ALL the action. As smaller companies are falling and unable to meet the FDA fee and testing requirements who has the money to purchase the companies or be able to spend the $$$$$$$ to introduce new blends? That's right. Only big tobacco. Then they have the entire market, not just part of it.
What they gain is a virtual monopoly on the tobacco consumer market. Reynolds and friends lobbied Congress to have this law passed. They can afford the costs of bringing new blends to market while smaller producers are driven out of business. This wasn't about pipe tobacco or cigars. Big Tobacco couldn't give two squirts about markets that small. But cigarettes and vaping are entirely another matter. So, as Russ wrote, pipes and cigars are collateral damage.
So too is artisanal pipemaking. Under the new regs, artianal pipemaking will become a thing of the past so if you have a favorite carver, now would be a good time to support him or her and buy.
This is really the facet of the regs that I did NOT see coming. If you'd have told me that the selling of something as innocuous as a hand-carved wooden pipe would be regulated out of existence, I wouldn't have believed you.
I'm now in the "nothing would surprise me" camp when it comes to the gov't, and it's a real shame. I hate to concede that point to the tinfoil-hat-wearing paranoids. Unfortunately, it just IS that way now.
Amazing, ain't it? By what legal alchemy does a wooden object become a tobacco product and therefore subject to FDA deeming? Yet there it is. I'm hoping that the legal challenges blow this particularly obnoxious overreach out of existence.
@pipesmokingtom: Hey, thanks for the shout out! But I can't take all the credit- it turns out you're not really paranoid if they're actually after your pipes and tobacco!
Yours,
Aldecaker
Vice President and Treasurer of the Only Idiots Say "It Can't Happen Here" Club
Yours,
Aldecaker
Vice President and Treasurer of the Only Idiots Say "It Can't Happen Here" Club
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