Reemtsma / Imperial Brands

The German Reemtsma Cigarettenfarbiken GmbH has been sold to Imperial Brands (then Imperial Tobacco Group) in 2002. The comany owns facilities in Hamburg, Langenhagen and Trossingen.

Reemtsma is second in the German tobacco market and holds a share of 25 %.

During World War II, Reemtsma has been close to the Nazi regime despite its anti-tobacco policies and entertained strong relations to the Wehrmacht. After the conquest of the Crimea, tens of thousands workers, amongst them children, were forced to work on German tobacco fields. Most of the harvest went to Reemtsma, by then the largest German cigarette company.

***********************

In 2004, Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH was awarded the first “Warning”, a negative award for tobacco corporations particularly responsible for destroying the environment and exploiting farmers.

The environment journalist John Waluye had proven, that Reemtsma sources large amounts of tobacco leaf from Tanzania, his home country. Every year, about 61,000 hectares of forest are being cut down to cure tobacco – an area about as large as Munich.