Cigarette
Today I was talking with a friend about Cigarette market, he seems realy keen on how Cigarette market is developing in Indonesia. So after that discussion, I think it will be good if I start compiling news and article about Cigarette in Indonesia.
Definition of Cigarrette
Cigarette (rokok) actually means “small cigar”, is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives,then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder (generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter).
So in order to be called as cigarette: it has to be made from Tobacco (or reconstituted tobacco), consumed trough smoking and paper wrapped. Hence if it is wrapped with tobacco leaves, eventhough having small dimension, we call it Cigar (cerutu) not Cigarette (rokok).
Type of Cigarette
There are quite a lot of Cigarette type in Indonesia, but generally can be break down into few category depend on how it made and the additives in the cigarette, here is the category that widely used by the Industry.
SKM : Sigaret Kretek Mesin (Machine rolled Cigarette)
SKT : Sigaret Kretek Tangan (Hand rolled Cigarette)
SPM : Sigaret Putih Mesin (Machine rolled White Cigarette)
You will noticed that there are two type of cigarette which are Kretek and white. Kretek cigarette (rokok kretek) is a cigarette with clove as the additive, it is in fact a genuine Indonesian invention. the history of rokok kretek is quite interesting, Somewhere in Kudus in 1870 – 1880 some one called Djamari adding clove oil to his cigarette to ease his chest pain. It worked and he began adding shredded / crushed clove to cigarette and sell it.
The Kretek is named after the sound when you smoke this cigarette. The clove is also give a distinc taste that most of Indonesian like it. Untill now, rokok kretek is still hold major share (about 90%) of cigarette market in Indonesia.
SKM : Sigaret Kretek Mesin (Machine rolled Cigarette)
Usually the cigarette will have filter at the end, there are two type of SKM which are :
- Full flavor cigarette : as in the name, this is full flavor, tobacco contain is high hence the nicotine or tar content is also high. It give more full bodied flavor to the cigarette, usually heavier to draw.Top brands under this category is :
- Gudang Garam International
- Gudang Garam Surya
- Djarum Super
- Light / Mild Cigarette : The Tar content is supposed to be lighter or smaller, usually is easier to draw. This type of cigarette becoming more and more popular in Indonesia, Major brands in this category are :
- A mild
- Class Mild
- L A Lights
- Star mild
SKT : Sigaret Kretek Tangan (Hand Rolled Cigarette)
This cigarette is manually rolled in the manufacturing process, can you imagine how many workers needed for this process. I heard that Gudang-Garam for example, they have about 30.000 to do just this job. This is very labor intensive process and Goverment give a lower tax for this type of cigarette. Top brands in this segment are :
- Djie Sam Soe kretek
- A hijau
- Djarum Coklat
- Djarum 76
- Gudang Garam Merah
SPM : Sigaret Putih Mesin (Machine rolled White Cigarette)
Basically is non-clove cigarette, brand in this category are : Marlboro (not marlboro mix 9), Dunhill, lucky strike, etc.
Talking about cigarette is very interesting, as goverment is closely monitoring the market, increasing tax every year, govern how they advertise etc etc. I will certainly write more about it later.
Regards
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