From the start of production of Elita the cigarettes were produced in R ga, Latvia, in the factory at Miera st. 58 owned by the state by the company R gas Tabakas Fabrika, which was founded in 1887. The capacity of the factory was 5.6 billion cigarettes per year. Output was distributed into different types of the cigarettes, from which Elita took a notable place. In 1992 R gas Tabakas Fabrika was sold to the Latvian Denmark company House of Prince Latvia. In 1997 volume of production of Elita was about 24 million packs, a new variant of the cigarettes was introduced Elita Plus . 1 From 2002 Elita is produced on the new production line using king size (84 mm) tubes. In 2003 House of Prince was renamed into Scandinavian Tobacco and two years latter was sold to the British American Tobacco. Production at R ga factory was stopped in 2009 due to the 30% drop in sales and increase of illegal sales.

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Elita was not actively advertised in the mass media, TV advertisement was only once, then the factory was closed. Also some influence to the mark was introduced in the 1970 es. The factory made a special edition of Elita for the users of Latvian National Film Festival and after 2005 issued different types of the packages with the depictions of the famous Latvian castles and palaces. On the packages was printed the following sights

• Cesvaine Palace
• Jaunpils Castle
• Rund le Palace
• Turaida Castle
• Bridge through Venta in Kuld ga

Also was issued a special package dedicated to the 40 years of independent Latvia.

Varieties edit Variety Year Tar Nicotine CO Elita (white) 1967 n/a n/a n/a Elita (black) 1967 n/a n/a n/a Elita black with a GOST 1967 n/a n/a n/a Elita 1992 n/a n/a n/a Elita Gold 1992 n/a n/a n/a Elita De luxe 1992 n/a n/a n/a Elita Full Flavour 2001 12.00 0.9 n/a Elita Lights 2001 n/a n/a n/a Elita Lights Menthol 2001 n/a n/a n/a Elita Light 1992 n/a n/a n/a Elita Light De luxe 1992 n/a n/a n/a Elita Light Menthol 1992 n/a n/a n/a Elita Plus Lights 2003 9.0 0.8 n/a Elita Plus Super Lights 2003 5.0 0.4 n/a Elita Plus Super Lights 2004 6.0 0.5 n/a Elita Plus Full Flavour 2002 11.0 0.8 n/a Elita Plus Full Flavour 2003 12.0 1.0 n/a Elita Plus Blue 2004 8.0 0.7 n/a Elita Plus Menthol 2004 n/a n/a n/a Elita Plus Silver 2004 5.0 0.5 n/a Elita Plus Classic 2004 10.0 0.8 n/a Elita Flor Exclusive Tobacco 2004 n/a n/a n/a Elita Gold 2004 8.0 0.6 9.0 Elita Original 2004 10.0 0.8 n/a Elita Gold Special edition 2007 n/a n/a n/a Elita Original Special edition 2007 n/a n/a n/a Market share, price and volume edit

According to the data submitted by the Latvian State Revenue Service, Elita was the most sold brand of the cigarette with a filter in Latvia for the period of about twenty years, mostly because of affordable price. 4 Among the other most popular cigarettes were Wall Street and Winston. Market share of Elita is shown in the following table

Year Percent Volume (pack) Price Currency 1967 n/a n/a 0.30 RUR 1980 n/a n/a 0.30 RUR 1997 20 n/a 0.30 LVL 2002 14.39 27 460 000 2004 16.0 n/a 0.31 LVL 2005 26.9 103 000 000 n/a LVL 2007 16.0 n/a 0.38/0.55 (SE) LVL 2008 n/a n/a 0.95 LVL 2009 n/a n/a 1.35 LVL See also edit

Sweets makers work to keep names off e-cigarettes — abc news

Owners of brands geared toward children of all ages are battling to keep notable names like Thin Mint, Tootsie Roll and Cinnamon Toast Crunch off the flavored nicotine used in electronic cigarettes.

Now the owners of those trademarks are fighting back to make sure their brands aren’t being used to sell an addictive drug or make it appealing to to children.

General Mills Inc., the Girl Scouts of the USA and Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. are among several companies that have sent cease and desist letters to makers of the liquid nicotine demanding they stop using the brands and may take further legal action if necessary.

The actions highlight the debate about the array of flavors available for the battery powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution, creating vapor that users inhale. The Food and Drug Administration last month proposed regulating electronic cigarettes but didn’t immediately ban on fruit or candy flavors, which are barred for use in regular cigarettes because of the worry that the flavors are used to appeal to children.

It’s growing pains for the industry that reached nearly $2 billion in sales last year in the face of looming regulation. E cigarette users say the devices address both the addictive and behavioral aspects of smoking without the thousands of chemicals found in regular cigarettes.

There are about 1,500 e liquid makers in the U.S. and countless others abroad selling vials of nicotine from traditional tobacco to cherry cola on the Internet and in retail stores, often featuring photos of the popular treats. Using the brand name like Thin Mint or Fireball conjures up a very specific flavor in buyers’ minds, in a way that just «mint chocolate» or «cinnamon» doesn’t.

«Using the Thin Mint name which is synonymous with Girl Scouts and everything we do to enrich the lives of girls to market e cigarettes to youth is deceitful and shameless,» Girl Scouts spokeswoman Kelly Parisi said in a statement.

The issue of illegally using well known brands on e cigarette products isn’t new for some. For a couple of years, cigarette makers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Philip Morris USA have fought legal battles with websites selling e cigarette liquid capitalizing on their Camel and Marlboro brand names and imagery. The companies have since released their own e cigarettes but without using their top selling brand names.

«It’s the age old problem with an emerging market,» said Linc Williams, board member of the American E liquid Manufacturing Standards Association and an executive at NicVape Inc., which produces liquid nicotine. «As companies goes through their maturity process of going from being a wild entrepreneur to starting to establish real corporate ethics and product stewardship, it’s something that we’re going to continue to see.»

Williams said his company is renaming many of its liquids to names that won’t be associated with well known brands. Some companies demanded NicVape stop using brand names such as Junior Mints on their liquid nicotine. In other cases, the company is taking proactive steps to removing imagery and names like gummy bear that could be appealing to children.

«Unfortunately it’s not going to change unless companies come in and assert their intellectual property,» he said.

And that’s what companies are starting to do more often as the industry has rocketed from thousands of users in 2006 to several million worldwide, bringing the issue to the forefront.

«We’re family oriented. A lot of kids eat our products, we have many adults also, but our big concern is we have to protect the trademark,» said Ellen Gordon, president and chief operating officer of Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. «When you have well known trademarks, one of your responsibilities is to protect (them) because it’s been such a big investment over the years.»

Michael Felberbaum can be reached at