Pacific Cigarette Company

Pacific Cigarette Company (formerly Savanna Tobacco) is a tobacco processing and cigarette manufacturing company, founded in 2002 by Adam Molai. It is the first cigarette manufacturer to be founded by a black African in Zimbabwe. Pacific Cigarette Company (PCC) is the manufacturer of Pacific, Branson, and Pegasus cigarette products.

History

Founding

Pacific Cigarette Company was founded in 2002 as Savanna Tobacco by Zimbabwean entrepreneur Adam Molai and Nick Havercroft. Molai decided to found the company after observing that local tobacco was being harvested, manufactured into cigarettes in other countries, and then sold back to Zimbabweans.[1]

The company started by purchasing and processing tobacco stems for export to other countries. After purchasing manufacturing equipment, Savanna launched its first cigarette product called Pacific Blue in 2004, becoming the first locally owned cigarette manufacturer in Zimbabwe.[2][3][4]

Controversies

In November 2012, The Herald reported that most local cigarette companies, including Savanna Tobacco, had been recently robbed of millions of rand worth of product. The paper noted that British American Tobacco (BAT) had not reported any robberies. Additionally, a South African security firm called Forensic Security Services (FSS) was caught surveilling local tobacco companies, and several people were arrested.[26] BAT's complicity was suspected but not proven, and they denied involvement.[27] Later that month, President Robert Mugabe accused BAT of spying and hijacking Savanna Tobacco's trucks to "kill competition".[28][24][29]

In 2014, Molai alleged that his competitors were undertaking industrial espionage and stifling Savanna's ability to increase exports.[30] The following year, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he had opened an investigation into BAT's alleged attempts to undermine Savanna's growth.[31][32] Several years later, a BBC Panorama investigation found evidence that BAT had, in fact, enlisted FSS to sabotage a Savanna Tobacco factory and that BAT had negotiated a bribe so that the government would release their people from jail.[33][34]

PCC's cigarettes are smuggled into other countries, including South Africa and Botswana.[35][29][36] According to a 2019 report by Atlantic Council, PCC's biggest market is in South Africa, where it accounts for the majority of trafficked cigarettes seized by authorities.[37] A report by the Tobacco Institute of South Africa (which receives funds from BAT) found that PCC products comprise about 10% of the illegal cigarette market in South Africa.[29][24] However, a more recent study by the University of Cape Town estimated that the company holds between 1 and 4% of the market share in South Africa and that about 78% of the company's cigarettes sold in South Africa are illegal.[25]

Local media have reported that PCC was suspected of involvement in cigarette trafficking.[24][38][17] A 2021 investigative report by Daily Maverick about goods trafficking alleged that PCC is part of "Mugabe’s patronage network" because founder Adam Molai is Mugabe's nephew-in-law.[39] PCC has acknowledged that their cigarettes are smuggled but has denied responsibility and stated that "building brands with a Mugabe relationship has been the biggest challenge".[40][31][41]

former name	Savanna Tobacco
type	Manufacturing
industry	Tobacco
founder	Adam Molai
hq location city	Harare
hq location country	Zimbabwe
key people	Adam Molai, founder and CEO
products	Cigarettes
num employees	500+
website	https://www.pacificcigarette.com/

Pacific Cigarette Company

History

Founding

Growth and name change

Products

Controversies

Awards and recognition

References