Pan shops closed, cigs being routed through grocers

Nagpur: Pan shops closed due to lockdown have pulled down cigarette and beedi sales by nearly 30%, claim dealers and manufacturers. They also accept they have found new outlets to vend the product.
The dealers have found grocery stores as the new avenue of vending cigarettes. Sources in tobacco business said salesmen whoused to bringing items like chips and some food items to pan shops are now being tapped by dealers to supply cigarettes to grocery shops. They already have contacts in grocery business.
Grocery shops are allowed to open from 7am to 11am which has helped in continuing the sale. However, closure of pan shops has meant the business is substantially down, said dealers.
Rishab Lalwani of M/s R K Traders, dealers in tobacco products, said they had kept outlet open as there was no notification ordering shut down. They have been selling other products, apart from tobacco also. “Sales have come down drastically. Earlier we used to easily sell one carton in a day, now it takes a week,” said Lalwani.
Beedi makers also claimed to be going through a tough phase. Rasik Patel of Gondia’s Vidarbha Tobacco Products Pvt Ltd which makes the Sher Chhap beedis said the sales were down 50% in rural areas. In cities too, they are reduced by 25% to 30%. The movement of beedis is hampered as it is not an essential commodity.
Anil Vadera, a tendu leaves contractor at Gondia, said impact of lockdown on beedi sales is seen on leaf trade too. Beedis are rolled in tendu leaves. The plucking season begins in May and continues till the month’s end. The demand has gradually declined since 2017 and has now taken a major hit due to Covid, he said.
“Our firm’s orders have come down to 1.30 lakh bags at present as against 2 lakh in 2017. Beedi manufactures are already having last year’s surplus leaves due to which the supplies which normally go in October will be sent in December,” he said.
A source in the forest department though said the tendu auction has been at three year high in the region. Out of 231 units of forest area put up for auction, only 47 remained unsold. In the previous year, 135 units were unsold and the year before 77 units did not find takers.
Sources said even the yield of leaves has gone down, due to which higher number units have been auctioned. The low demand from beedi industry continues.
A raw tobacco trader said the business continues to run smoothly. “A majority of the tobacco supplies comes from Gujarat. Traders are paying GST and picking the consignment on daily basis. Of course, there is a reduction around 25% due to the lockdown,” said the source.