Tobacco giant Philip Morris is investing millions of pounds in heated tobacco stores in Bristol. The company invited Hannah Baker to its research and development centre in Switzerland to find out more
On the edge of a vast lake in French-speaking Switzerland is a glass building full of scientists. It has enormous automatic doors that open onto a clinical reception, where the slight scent of smoke lingers in the air.
Six-foot-high glass barriers bar the entrance to the inner building and a smiling receptionist takes our passports and tucks them away behind the counter.
Outside, the wind gently ripples the water of the lake and a lone swimmer can be seen heading towards the shore in swift, sharp strokes.
It could be a secret HQ from a Bond movie.
We are, in fact, at The Cube - a research and development facility on the northern shore of Lake Neuch芒tel - and it belongs to one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world.
Philip Morris, which counts Marlboro cigarettes among its brands, was formed when US tobacco firm Altria spun off its non-US interests in 2008.
The company turned over $29.6billion in the 2018 financial year and sells its products in 180 countries.
Tobacco is still very much at the company鈥檚 heart - Philip Morris produces over 800 billion cigarettes each year - but declining smoking rates, in the 海角视频 at least, and the rising popularity of alternatives such as e-cigarettes has seen the firm investing billions in new products.
Indeed, Philip Morris claims its long-term plan is to eventually 鈥渟top selling cigarettes鈥 and focus on the alternative market altogether.
In the 海角视频, 15.1 per cent of people aged 18 and above now smoke cigarettes, which equates to around 7.4 million people, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Meanwhile, approximately 2.8 million adults smoke e-cigarettes, with best estimates showing they are 95 per cent less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes, according to Public Health England.
And this has clearly not gone unnoticed by Philip Morris.
The company has been focusing its efforts in the last few years on developing a heated-tobacco device - known as IQOS - which it claims emits on average 95 per cent lower levels of harmful chemicals compared to smoking.
The device uses a tiny plate to heat tobacco sticks, rather than burn them as in usual cigarettes. It still releases a nicotine-containing vapour.
But awareness of heated tobacco in the 海角视频 is still rare and the government believes there is a need for more research 鈥渢hat is independent of commercial interests鈥 into the effects of smoking it.
As a business, though, Philip Morris is confident the market is growing and 海角视频 managing director Peter Nixon says the company is working towards a 鈥渟moke-free future鈥.
He believes the company鈥檚 IQOS device 鈥渃an be bigger than Marlboro鈥 and says he has 鈥100 per cent confident in the science鈥.
The business is clearly serious about developing the IQOS brand; it already has 430 scientists and engineers based at the Cube from 40 different countries all working on new iterations of the device.
It has also invested 拢4billion and spent 11 years working on the tech for IQOS, which is now being used by 10 million people globally.
The IQOS brand still only represents 14 per cent of the firm鈥檚 global revenues, but Mr Nixon insists Philip Morris is planning to invest billions of pounds in the device in the coming years. He also admits the move is 鈥渘ot altruistic鈥, pointing out the business value of tapping into the heated tobacco market.
'This is not altruistic - this will be a successful business'
鈥淥ur products - normal cigarettes - cause a lot of harm and a lot of damage and we are trying to bring out a less harmful product,鈥 he explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good from a business perspective too - don鈥檛 get me wrong, this is not altruistic - this will be a successful business.鈥
But Philip Morris has come under fire recently by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which says heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes are not helping fight cancer.
The organisation also criticised Philip Morris鈥檚 Unsmoke campaign, which encourages people to 鈥渃hange to a better alternative鈥 and, where possible, quit smoking.
The WHO claims the campaign actually ensures tobacco remains socially acceptable while confusing consumers with terms such as 鈥渟moke-free products鈥, which may actually refer to products that have unknown health impacts and contain toxins.
But Philip Morris says there are millions of people who are unable to quit smoking and the WHO鈥檚 message made it 鈥渉arder鈥 to provide safer options for people.
A spokesperson said: 鈥淭here is no question that the best choice for smokers is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether. The reality is many people do not. We cannot turn our backs on them.
鈥淥rganisations like the World Health Organization need to stop talking at smokers and start listening.鈥
But for an organisation whose machines can produce 20,000 cigarettes a minute, isn鈥檛 it hypocritical to tell people to quit smoking?
Mr Nixon doesn鈥檛 believe so.
鈥淭he people who smoke, I want to give them better options. People who still want to smoke cigarettes, of course that鈥檚 fine, and I provide those products but I want to make sure they are fully aware there are alternatives that are better than cigarettes.
鈥淚 think it is our responsibility to bring out better alternatives to the product that we have got now. Just stopping selling [cigarettes] won鈥檛 fix the issue. Cigarettes are harmful and we are very open about that.鈥
Researching health benefits
Scientists in white coats wander down the hallways and we are encouraged to peer through the glass walls of laboratories where engineers can be seen bending over strange machines.
The open-plan areas of the building are full of plants, which turn out to be different types of tobacco - Burleigh, Virginia and Oriental - neatly planted in large beds.
A couple of people mill around in the cafeteria, which has a large decking area and outdoor seating overlooking the lake.
Our group is shown into a windowless boardroom by our host Julia Shpeter, the company鈥檚 manager of global communication, and is introduced to one of the leading scientists for IQOS, Nuno Fazenda.
He proceeds to show us mind-boggling amounts of research into the 鈥榟ealth benefits鈥 of the new IQOS device.
The problem is, the majority of the research has been carried out by Philip Morris. There is some independent research that has also been done but the 海角视频 government believes more is needed on the health impacts of these types of devices.
Heated tobacco products, or so-called 鈥榟eat-not-burn鈥 tobacco, have been commercially available in 27 countries since 2017.
The government does admit that available evidence suggests these products may be 鈥渃onsiderably less鈥 harmful than tobacco cigarettes - but they are still 鈥渕ore harmful鈥 than e-cigarettes.
Philip Morris launched IQOS in Britain in 2016 and it opened its first stores outside London, in Bristol, this year.
There is already one at Cabot Circus and at Cribbs Causeway, and another is opening on Queen鈥檚 Road in the city tomorrow.
鈥淭he research showed Bristol was the number one place [outside London] where smokers were most receptive to alternatives,鈥 added Mr Nixon, who says the company is planning to invest millions in Bristol over the coming years.
He also believes the 海角视频 will be the fastest country to go 鈥榮moke free鈥 believing that 鈥減eople are very open to alternatives鈥.
Only time will tell if he is right.
But, one thing is clear. The world鈥檚 cigarette industry isn鈥檛 going to disappear any time soon.
