You may have noticed something different on the cover of this issue of DI. Is there something different in the font? Is the logo a slightly brighter hue? Well, yes, but you may have also noticed that the industry-leading publication once known as Distribution International is now Tobacco Products International (TPI).

So, why the change?
Within these pages you will continue to receive the same in-depth coverage of tobacco products and accessories, alongside general news of interest to tobacco retailers and distributors throughout Europe, the CIS Countries, the Balkans, and the Middle East. However, after many inter-office conversations and often-spirited feedback from our readers and industry contacts, it became clear that “distribution” only began to hint at what this publication is about. TPI and its sister publication, Tobacco International (TI), aim to be the source for anything newsworthy within the international tobacco industry. While TI will continue to cover the manufacturing side of the industry, TPI will center its aim on the point-of-purchase and retail end of the market. Here, you will find all the tobacco-related news that’s fit to print after the product leaves the factory. TPI will continue DI’s tradition of featuring all members of the tobacco consumer product family—everything from cigarettes and cigars; to RYO, MYO, and snus; to pipes, hookahs, and other tobacco-related accessories. We’ll profile the newest products, highlight the companies that manufacture them, and cover the outlets that deal directly with the consumer. It’s our aim to help our readers improve their retail and distribution businesses.

How will this effect EuroTab 2008?
It won’t. TPI’s EuroTab 2008 - Warsaw will most emphatically still be going on, and will be the must-attend event for anyone with an interest in tobacco product retail. The event will center on the European market, but will also incorporate participants, products, and visitors from Asia, the Balkans, Russia, the CIS countries, Africa, and the Middle East, among others. EuroTab aims to be a guiding light through the sometimes complicated and constantly changing nature of tobacco retail. Systems of distribution vary dramatically from region to region, and even nation to nation, but slowly and surely, tobacco is becoming a globalized game, and tobacco product retail, an international sport.

EuroTab will take place in Warsaw, Poland, June 24–26, 2008. Check back regularly on www.eurotab.com for the latest news and registration information.

- Evan D. Dashevsky