Alfa was an Italian brand of

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s, owned by

multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

. The brand was manufactured by its local

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

, BAT Italia, until it was discontinued in 2014. In

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Alfa is still being manufactured by

Japan Tobacco The (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company and parent company to Japan Tobacco International, one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers in the world. It was established in 1985 as a that inherited the ri ...

History

Alfa was launched in the 1940s by Ente Tabacchi Italiani. Alfa used a dark and low-grade tobacco, often containing dust or pieces of wood, high in tar. In the period in which "Nazionali Semplici" ("Nationals without filter") were difficult to find as part of the "Mobile Scale Basket" established by the Italian government, Alfa became a popular alternative, despite its lower quality. As with similar brands such Super and Nazionali, short size Alfa packs were eventually discontinued, with their production replaced by longer "king size" packs in the 1990s. In March 1991, ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

'' reported that the

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black b ...

and

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

content of Italian cigarette brands, including Alfa, were to be lowered by the Italian government. From 31 December 1992, cigarettes could contain no more than 15 mg of tar. The amount of tar was lowered again to 12 mg on 31 December 1997. Alfa cigarettes at the time contained 18 mg of tar. In 2003, the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance published a list of cigarette brands that were required to lower their

and

content. Alfa was required to lower its tar and nicotine levels from 11.5 mg tar and 0.95 mg nicotine in 2002 to 10.0 mg tar and 0.90 mg nicotine in 2003. In May 2014, a decision was made by the Italian Tobacco Board to discontinue the Alfa brand, with production ceasing later that year.

Branding

The golden lion with a shield, introduced at the end of the 1970s to gradually replace the original logo of a sailing ship, represents the old symbol of the Italian ''"Monopoli di Stato"'' ("State Monopoly"), the national tobacco industry. The white triangle on a red background with the red Greek ''"Alfa"'' ("

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

") painted on a white package was the brand's symbol from the 1970s.

Markets

Historically, Alfa was mainly sold in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, but was (and in some cases is still) sold in countries such as

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

References

{{British American Tobacco 1940s establishments in Italy 2014 disestablishments in Italy British American Tobacco brands Japan Tobacco brands

History

Branding

Markets

See also

References