Although, big suppliers claimed they would offer buy-back schemes following the menthol ban, retailers claim they have been left with hundreds of pounds worth of stock, reports betterRetailing.

When the menthol ban came into effect last year, suppliers such as Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Imperial, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris Limited (PML) pledged to collect and credit retailers for any non-compliant remaining stock. However, as of August 2021, some retailers are claiming they are still holding the now illicit stock worth several hundreds of pounds.
According to betterRetailing, one retailer, who has GBP 800 worth of stock left, has tried to contact several of the companies to no avail. He claims to have not seen a representative in years and to have had no communication about the take back process despite the companies having his records through track and trace.
When contacted by betterRetailing, BAT said there would be a second return phase at the end of the year.
“BAT UK carried out a significant menthol pack return exercise from September to December 2020. Retailers were asked to log on to a portal and share information on relevant stock so we would be able to pinpoint stores, quantities and brands impacted. Despite our best efforts some of our retail partners appear to have been missed in this initial returns phase, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused,” a spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for PML told betterRetailing that it had introduced a nationwide “Buy-Back” scheme from May to July 2020 during the course of which retailers were able to return stock via recorded delivery at PML’s cost.