Serbia-based tobacco company Monus has been in business for 10 years and has recently entered the world of duty free with the new De Santis range of cigarettes. De Santis is sold in Red (tar: 10 mg; nicotine: 1 mg; carbon monoxide: 10 mg) and White (tar: 7 mg; nicotine: 1 mg; carbon monoxide: 7 mg) varieties, with both options being available in regular and slim formats. Both the Reds and Whites are sold in a unique octagonal packaging that aesthetically brings together the themes of modernity and tradition.
 
Monus’ products are currently on sale domestically in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Iraq and Syria. A strategic management decision was made in 2009 to increase exports and to enter the travel retail business. Recognizing the potential of cracking the duty free market, Monus made its debut at the Middle East Exclusive show in February of this year. Encouraged by the response, the team further attended the Tax Free World Association’s Asia Pacific exhibition this past May with a view to meeting travel retail operators, buyers and importers from the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East.

In duty free, Monus recently signed contracts with Dufry Serbia, Romanian Duty Free and Hellenic Greece. Furthermore, the company is now in talks with duty free operators in the Middle East to extend its reach even further. The relative ease with which the company’s products have secured listings in travel retail speaks volumes of the quality of the product and the experience of the Monus team. In fact, Monus’ sister company Rubin, which deals in fine wines and spirits in the Serbian domestic market, is now considering its own move into the duty free channel as a result of the tobacco company’s recent successes.

In addition to the introduction of De Santis in duty free, the company’s brand Fast, which has traditionally performed very well in the European domestic market, is also available at Hellenic Greece’s duty free locations. True to its name, the brand has taken on a life of its own and become Monus’ most popular brand to date, largely because of its flavor profile and reasonable price point. Indeed, Fast is now one of the bestselling brands domestically in Serbia.

“It is our company’s long term strategy to attract and maintain tobacco consumers in this region,” says Zivojin Zorkic, General Manager at Monus. “Monus intends to do so by giving real value for money. Furthermore, all of our brands offer creative and distinctive packaging, which goes towards increasing our brands’ unique strengths in the market.

“While we’re relatively new to the duty free industry, we’re looking to parlay our domestic success as we move into the travel retail sector,” says Zivojin Zorkic, General Manager at Monus. “Indeed, since their introduction in 2001, Fast cigarettes have become bestsellers, and our unique flavors—Monus Slims apple and grape varieties—are proving very popular as well. Add to this the introduction of De Santis and we feel that all of our brands are particularly strong in the areas that matter most to consumers: quality, taste and variety.”