The excise paid tobacco industry is experiencing a decline as tobacco consumers made a quick switch to cheaper local tobacco since the shortage of tobacco supply from the British American Tobacco (B.A.T.) last month.

This was confirmed by a representative of the B.A.T company, Mohammed Fareed in an email correspondence with the Samoa Observer.

"The excise paid tobacco industry on a whole has been facing a decline. Consumers are simply switching to cheaper alternatives such as Kipi which remain tax free," Mr. Fareed stated in the email.

Asked about the cause of the shortage of tobacco supply and whether B.A.T had some difficulties with their tobacco manufacturing machines, Mr. Fareed said the factory is running normally.

"BAT Samoa has sufficient stock levels, and our factory is running normally. 

"One of the smaller variants had some issues due to a delay in shipping services of raw materials. This is a common issue being faced around the world in recent times."

Meanwhile, with the current shortage of tobacco products in retail outlets in Apia, those who stand to benefit are local vendors who sell Kipi Samoa or locally grown Samoan tobacco.

Kipi Samoa sellers have a section at the Fugalei Market and are open Monday to Saturday. They roll tobacco leaves in newspapers and sell them for SAT$5.00 a roll. 

The sellers include 43-year-old Kolio Simone, who has been selling Kipi Samoa for over five years and hails from the village of Leauvaa. His local tobacco sales are his main source of income for his family and he can make good money, depending on the demand of local consumers.

Since mid May, the shortage of tobacco started in Samoa's main urban centre, especially in and around the capital Apia, where most shops are either running out of tobacco products or smokers are shop-stopping for cigarettes. 

Later the shortage spread all across the country especially in both main islands of Upolu and Savaii with smokers even from the rural areas taking to social media to express their disappointments in the shortage.

This newspaper understands that local cigarettes started running out two weeks ago and some businesses in Vaiusu and Vailoa and others within the vicinity of Apia resorted to selling Chinese cigarettes after their local tobacco stock started running out.