Tobacco is one of the most important agricultural commodities in Zambia. The tobacco industry contributes hundreds of millions of Kwacha in excise duty and VAT to the government per year. The cigarette market is as a result intrinsically linked to the country’s economic performance. Production reached a peak of 1,5 billion pieces/sticks in 2013 due to the strong Zambian economy and the introduction of the minimum wage.

The Zambian market consumes around 3 billion sticks and has been recording annual growth of 30% in the last four years. Of the Zambian population, 12,2% smoke as of 2014, which is relatively high for an African nation. Market volume stands at 1,4 billion pieces as of 2015.

There are only two major players in the Tobacco industry in Zambia, vis-a-vis British American Tobacco and Roland Imperial Tobacco Company (RITCO). RITCO is an indigenous Zambian owned company registered under Zambian company laws. The company was incorporated in 2001 to manufacture and sell cigarettes, and other tobacco related products. The company comprises of two divisions, namely the manufacturing and trading division, which are autonomous. RITCO has since increased its investment in cigarette manufacturing to US$30 million, as per investment licence, with the Zambian Development Agency, in addition to obtaining the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA), with the Zambian government.

This cigarette manufacturer has a Zambian market share of 35% and endeavours to increase it through expanding its portfolio and market reach. They are also working on expanding their markets to neighbouring countries.

Furthermore, RITCO is ISO certified by the Zambian Bureau of Standards with ZS ISO 9001:2008, for quality management systems.

A further investment of US$50 million has been made in the upstream tobacco processing industry such as the Primary Manufacturing Department (PMD) to produce Cutrag and Green Leaf Threshing Plant (GLT). It has been established through a sister company, known as Zambian Cutrag Processors Limited. Though autonomous, they will be the main supplier of Cutrag to Roland Imperial Tobacco Limited.

The above companies operate from the RITCO tobacco processing industrial complex located on a seven-hectare industrial land in the Lusaka South Multi Facility Economic Zone.

The construction of the industrial complex and relocation was completed in 2018. The factory now has an installed capacity to produce 21 000 cigarettes per minute, with a running time of 15 hours per day.

The state-of-the-art machinery, sourced from the manufacturers of the best and most robust cigarette manufacturing equipment in the world, has a capacity of seven billion cigarettes per annum. This entails them to be regarded as a world class cigarette producer.

The introduction of high-level technology has enabled RITCO to establish training programmes, from which many Zambians continue to benefit, in a bid to produce the much-needed skilled labour. With increased investments, more jobs are being created based on the growth projections of the company.

RITCO has wide ranging programmes on corporate social responsibility, with financial and material support, almost being doubled year in, year out. Further plans to increase the brand portfolio includes an OK brand of cigarettes and Life Lights, which is targeted at the mid to premium segment.

Among new developments, the Life Full Flavour and Life Menthol brands have recently been migrated from Soft Cup to Hinge-Lid or hard packs. This is following tremendous growth of the brand’s equity in the market, enabling the brand to now compete favourably in the value to mid segment. This, however, has left room for Guards Full Flavour, Guards Menthol and Zambezi Cut Tobacco to take up and fill up that void in the value segment which has shown great potential, following the launch of these new products.

In addition to the cigarettes mentioned, RITCO introduced its very own ‘roll your own’ Zambezi Cut Tobacco, catering to the segment of smokers that prefer to prepare their own cigarettes, as opposed to the conventional stick.

Their brands are manufactured locally and use the finest of locally grown tobacco blends, giving them a high quality and fresh cigarette taste. The use of locally grown tobacco, produced by diligent Zambian farmers and the reduction of excise duty on locally manufactured cigarettes has allowed for RITCO brands to be competitively priced, thereby, giving them an advantage over its competitors who import cigarettes.

RITCO focuses on building customer relations. They believe customers are at the core of their business and are the most valued stakeholders. They offer customers good prices, a variety of product mixes and efficient and an effective sales team that meets their needs and requirements. It is important for RITCO to conduct after-sales support as this provides an opportunity for the organisation to understand the customer challenges and share the success experienced by customers.

Periodically, RITCO conducts trade recognition parties where their customers can interact with RITCO employees. It is through such platforms that RITCO strengthens and develops the relationship with its customers. After-sales support is also provided to customers through merchandising of the RITCO products at point-of-sale by the RITCO trained sales force. Poster placements, and the issuing of freebies such as T-shirts and caps help to create identification of RITCO products with the customers.

To learn more about RITCO and the tobacco trade in Zambia, call +26(0)21-125-6649, or e-mail enquiries@rolandtobacco.com, or visit their page at www.rolandtobacco.com.