We’ve been on this journey for a long time. We set an ambition to satisfy consumer moments in tobacco and beyond back in 2012 and launched our first vapour product not long after.

Since then, we have invested significant sums in research and development of New Categories of smokeless products (almost £350m every year), including Vapour, Heated Tobacco and Modern Oral products.

We have become a multi-category tobacco and nicotine products business with our New Categories embedded into the heart of our company alongside our cigarette operations.

To realise their true potential, we need to make New Category products available to adult smokers in as many markets as possible. By the end of 2023, our Vapour products, Heated Products, and Modern Oral products are available in 63, 31 and 34 markets respectively.

To achieve a step-change in New Categories, we are building new capabilities around the world focused on science, innovation and digital information.

As consumer preferences and technologies evolve, we stay ahead of the curve through our digital hubs, innovation centres and further development of our world-class R&D laboratories.

We are also leveraging the expertise of our external partners and are looking forward to exciting results from our corporate venturing initiative, Btomorrow Ventures.

The progress we have already made gives us confidence in achieving our ambitions for the future – to have 50 million consumers of our Smokeless Products by 2030 and become a predominantly smokeless business by 2035.

Building A Better Tomorrow™ is larger than BAT. Lasting change will only be achieved by a combination of similar commitments from companies like us and the support of regulators, public health bodies, politicians, media and academics.

Our role is to make available high-quality products that are researched and produced to high standards and promoted responsibly. We must also encourage those who otherwise continue to smoke to switch completely to scientifically substantiated, smokeless alternatives.

In today’s complex and challenging world, the policies, principles and programmes that guide how we work are more important than ever.

Just as we are committed to making a step change in our New Categories performance, we are also committed to making a step change in our sustainability ambition.

Responsible marketing plays an important role in growing our business, and we ensure that ours is only directed at adult consumers. We support retailers with proof-of-age schemes and awareness training and engage with governments and call for minimum age laws if none already exist.

And as the industry changes, we have expanded our guidelines on youth access prevention to cover new category products too.

Making agriculture more sustainable is one of our key aims. As part of the industry-wide Sustainable Tobacco Programme , we’re helping leaf suppliers and our contracted farmers with issues such as water and soil management, use of agrochemicals and preventing child labour.

View our Sustainability goals for more information.

We work with over 91,000 farmers contracted through BAT leaf operations worldwide and invest millions of pounds each year in leaf R&D. This helps us to develop new and innovative farming technologies and techniques, as well as safer, more efficient ways of working. Our network of field technicians regularly visit farms to advise and train farmers, helping them grow tobacco and other crops, sustainably and successfully.

Of course, a global agricultural supply chain can be vulnerable to human rights issues such as child labour. Understanding these challenges – and finding solutions – is critical.

Through our involvement with the industry-wide Sustainable Tobacco Programme , we review all our tobacco leaf suppliers. This is an important way of ensuring high standards are maintained and helps drive continuous improvements.