How I Capture PMI's Sustainability Journey

Sustainability sits at the core of our transformation, we see it as a fundamental opportunity for innovation, growth, and purpose-led, impact-driven, long term value creation. We work hard to integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business and activities. In this post, you will find some of the recent initiatives towards sustainability in Philip Morris International (PMI) and PMI Istanbul HQ Office.

For more photos and stories behind the photos, please visit:

Volkan Yorulmaz: Capture PMI's Transformation Journey towards Sustainability

PMI's 30% of Net Revenues Now Smoke-Free

Philip Morris reported strong fourth-quarter 2021 results, wherein both the top and the bottom line improved year over year. The company benefited from improved IQOS user growth, a better market share for cigarettes, portfolio enhancement efforts and reduced pandemic-led problems in several markets.

In 2021, total shipment volumes increased by 4.2% in Q4, and by 2.2% for the full-year. Instead of focusing the numbers and percentages, I want to highlight the key take aways from 2022 outlook:

We expect the total industry volume of cigarettes and heated tobacco units, excluding the U.S. and China, to decline between -1% and -2%. Given our leadership in smoke-free products, the structural growth of the category and its growing proportion in our business, we expect to gain share and target broadly stable total PMI shipment volumes, within a range of -1% and +1%.

In 2022, PMI still expects continued uncertainty with regard to the recovery pace from the pandemic-led operating landscape. PMI Management expects continued gradual recovery in the duty-free business outside Asia and no meaningful recovery in Asia.

Related with this year’s outlook, PMI CEO Jacek Olczak mentioned that with an improving outlook for device supply, and the initial success of ILUMA, we look forward to 2022 with excitement.

Update on IQOS in USA

In Nov 2021, an importation ban was imposed by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) concerning IQOS products. These include consumables and infringing components. Consequently, IQOS is currently not available for sale in the United States. PM announced that we have contingency plans under action (such as domestic production) and expect to be able to restart the supply in the United States in the first half of 2023.

By the way, this International Trade Commission decision has no bearing outside the U.S.

Olive tree seedlings: A True Sustainability Story

I will share with you my company's (Philip Morris International - PMI) contribution to sustainability, nature, and the environment through two photos with two olive trees and two people. This is my story, but I am sure many Philip Morris Turkey employees have similar stories to mine. Our company does not only lead our sustainability journey today with its environmental awareness, but this approach was also like this yesterday, and it will continue to be so in the future with our commitment and dedication.

I was working for PhilSA in 2014, the year that I became a father, and that summer all employees were given one olive tree seedling. One of my friends had not had the opportunity to plant, so he handed over his seedling to me as well. I went home with two seedlings in the service bus and looked after them on the balcony until the end of the week, and at the weekend I planted them in the garden of our summer house in Seferihisar, district of Izmir. The seedlings that I gave the life water to, dreaming of getting olives in the future, hugged the soil and life tightly, loved their place, started to rise, and get stronger.

Those two seedlings I planted side by side turned 2 years old with my son when the dates showed 2016. It made me very happy to see them grow up together, to meet my son Okan's love of nature, to see him help me while watering the trees, and to develop environmental awareness. Besides, I was so proud; the company I worked for was contributing to nature and I was seeing the positive effects of this. Additionally, another gift from Philip Morris Turkey, a walnut tree seedling came in front of our olive trees that summer, and this time I started to imagine if it would give walnuts in the future. That summer, my son and I had a souvenir photo taken in front of our trees.

In the summer of 2021, when we were burning inside due to the fires in our country, we once again remembered the value of what we have while doing our part in the reforestation of the damaged areas. That's why my son and I took a pose in front of our olive trees, who turned 7 this year. While my son was growing up with our trees, I felt that our future was much more sustainable and secure with individuals who are environmentally conscious and have developed love of trees and forests.

And once again I said, “I'm glad I'm a PMI employee”. While my company always uses resources in the best way for nature-friendly, environmentally friendly, and sustainable, it also includes its employees, whom it considers as its stakeholders, in these policies and enables us to walk towards the goal “together”. That's why, as a PMI employee, I'm on the sustainability journey of my environmentally conscious company, and I'm ready to support this journey to add value. 

Leadership is about Inspiring Team for Success

I am glad to share with you that the content I created is posted on Linkedin and Facebook by Philip Morris International.

I hope the content will create synergy for the readers. I wish to learn more from our leaders in PMI, experience, share, and continue in my leadership journey to prepare myself for the key roles. 

Here you may reach the contents:

Originally published in my blog:

Unsmoke: Three Leadership Dimensions that I Experienced After My Grandmother’s Passing Away (unsmokeyourworld.blogspot.com)

 

Also shared in Medium:

Three Leadership Dimensions that I Experienced After My Grandmother’s Passing Away | by Volkan Yorulmaz | Aug, 2021 | Medium

Post | Feed | LinkedIn

Philip Morris International - Gönderiler | Facebook

World Economic Forum 2020 and Designing a Smoke Free Future Through Dialogue

On 24 January 2020 Friday mid-night, I received shocking news: my wife’s brother İhsan had an unexpected heart attack. In the early Saturday morning, I headed to Bursa which is around 4 hours to my hometown İzmir by bus. Thanks to the free-wifi on the bus, I surfed a lot in order to keep calm on the way. During the journey I had the chance to read the news about the World Economic Forum and the actions and announcement my company executives made in Davos. What I mean by “my company” is Philip Morris International, the disruptive tobacco company which is delivering the smoke free future vision. Having studied international relations makes me feel interested in such global organizations. Last year, I also followed up what as going on through the news portals and twitter posts and produced a blog content:

https://volkanyorulmaz.blogspot.com/2019/01/pmi-was-at-davos-we-are-open-for.html

This year I did the same (this time blogging not in my lovely home but in the bus) on the way back from Bursa to İzmir on 26 January 2020 Sunday evening. Thanks God, İhsan is out of the intensive care unit in the hospital and he will be under doctor control for the next three days. One of the doctor’s recommendation for him was to quit smoking which is absolutely in line with PMI’s smoke-free future and unsmoke campaign. We will see if İhsan will manage his transformation or not, but I hope many people will be successful in their unsmoke transformation if Philip Morris International may find more space to conversation and dialogue. This dialogue will let the World know about the scientific evidence in favour of alternative, smoke free products. This dialogue and collaboration will be for the 1.1 billion existing cigarettes smokers who would otherwise continue smoking, and there has to be a sensible plan for these people. Let’s see what I have noticed and highlighted from the dialogues in Davos.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting took place in Davos between 21 and 24 January 2020. This year’s organization brought together 3,000 participants from around the world, and aimed to give concrete meaning to “stakeholder capitalism”, assist governments and international institutions in tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, and facilitate discussions on technology and trade governance.

As sustainable development is one of the key topics of the meeting, the 2020 Annual Meeting is among the most sustainable international summits ever held. Awarded the IS0 20121 standard for sustainable events in 2018, the Annual Meeting is fully carbon neutral through reducing, calculating and offsetting event-related emissions. According to the official website of World Economic Forum, initiatives are put in place to achieve this goal include using locally-sourced food suppliers, introducing alternative sources of protein to reduce meat consumption, sourcing 100% renewable electricity, and reducing or eliminating the use of materials that cannot easily be recycled or re-used, such as carpets and introducing more electric vehicles.

We need to bear in mind that the WEF is a unique occasion that brings together key stakeholders such as politicians, companies, business leaders, and media from all over the world. Alongside the 3,000 delegates who are invited to the conference, the WEF also attracts companies and organizations like Philip Morris International (PMI) who want to be part of the global conversation in Davos. By the way, Davos is not only a town in Switzerland but also a word that has become synonymous on the world’s stage with leadership. So, the leader of tobacco products PMI was present in Davos to showcase its science, reinforce their commitment to transformation and transparency, and invite scrutiny.

The WEF have set a goal for companies to become Carbon Neutral by 2050. PMI targets to achieve it by 2030. PMI’s Chief Operating Officer Jacek Olczak reminded the world PMI’s entire manufacturing footprint will be carbon neutral which is 20 years ahead of the objective which Davos has objective for this year that companies should commit by 2050.

Jacek Olczak also shared a written content on pmi.com and stated that “in business “big” has often been linked with “bad.” However, there are vital areas of human progression that call on the small-scale, artisanal approach to combine with the benefits of “big” to make the greatest difference.” This is a sign that big and small businesses can solve big challenges together. Then he clearly highlighted that PMI is a big company with a big plan for a better future. PMI wants to help unsmoke the world – by complementing existing efforts to prevent initiation and encouraging smokers to quit. To achieve its ambition, PMI has invested billions of dollars in becoming a more science- and technology-driven organization so it can deliver better alternatives to those adults who would otherwise continue smoking. In my opinion, people calling and referring “big tobacco” with a bad, nasty motivation. This is clearly seen especially in the posted tweets in twitter but PMI, as a big company has a big plan for a better future which needs to be appreciated and supported by big and small stakeholders.

Marian Salzman, PMI’s Senior Vice President of Global Communications, also talked about the “big” adjective and told that if big in terms of big business does not jump in to solve the problems of giving people better choices, better choices will not exist. She believes that the best way to unsmoke the planet is to have the power of big tobacco, big Philip Morris is behind it, so PMI can actually have the resources to fight for change.

PMI’s Global Head of People & Culture Charles Bendotti talked about “the role culture plays in transforming a business” in Davos. He points out that PMI wants to achieve a real dialogue – all of us sit around the table, discuss about different views and find a common agreement. He underlines that it is not about PMI but about helping 1.1 billion smokers across the world to have a better life.

PMI’s Vice President Strategic and Scientific Communications Dr. Moira Gilchrist answered some hard questions in Davos. One of those questions was “why does PMI still spend money on advertising for combustible cigarettes in countries which allow it?” Moira Gilchrist explained that PMI launched smoke-free products a few years ago and already in 2018 %60 of PMI’s commercial spend went on smoke-free products that gives an indication of the future direction of the company. In my opinion, this trend clearly indicates that PMI will be less spending for combustible business in the near future which will create more source for unsmoking the world.

Andre Calantzopoulos, PMI’s Chief Executive Officer, came together with the participants in Davos and pointed out that regulatory mindset change is another hard part. That is why PMI names this Davos week “Unsmoke Your Mind”. When you disrupt an industry, you also disrupt the public health. It is disrupting the architype of what the industry stands for, the NGOs around, and the regulators that are not the first ones to jump on new things and regulate them. These products, because they contain an addictive substance, they must be regulated.

These were what caught in my radar while I was searching “World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos” during my bus travel from İzmir to Bursa. On the way back to home, I had the opportunity to convert my notes to this blog content and thought about PMI’s senior management’s engagement in conversations about creating a smoke-free world. Davos is the place where leaders come together to solve difficult challenges. One of these challenges is to find open and transparent dialogue about smoke-free alternatives available for adult smokers who do not quit. In conclusion, I must state that designing a smoke-free future requires collaboration through dialogue.

Mission Completed: Torbalı Clean Up Day

In order to draw attention and raise awareness to environmental issues, Philip Morris International (PMI) volunteers and their families collected garbage in the parks of Torbalı on Sunday, October 6, 2019. A volunteer group of Philsa Philip Morris Sabancı employees and their families cleaned the Koruluk and Gazi Çamlık parks in Torbalı on Sunday, October 6, 2019. Me and my son Okan cleaned Torbalı, where I have been working since 2010, and we also had the opportunity to create environmental awareness. At the end of the event, a total of 274 kilos of garbage, including plastic and paper waste, were collected from 70,000 square meters of area cleaning. Antonio DeMarco, Philsa Philip Morris Sabancı Operation Director said: We have to keep Torbalı, which is the biggest district of İzmir and host our factory, clean together. With this activity, we did environmental cleaning in Torbalı and collected garbage, but more importantly, we want to increase the awareness on this issue and ensure that such activities increase in our district. ' Torbalı Municipality also supported the volunteers in this event, which was supported by citizens of Torbalı in preparation of the organization and recycling of collected wastes.

Philip Morris International CEO Addresses Change at United Nations General Assembly

Philip Morris International CEO André Calantzopoulos spoke at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City, a nonpartisan forum event taking place alongside the United Nations General Assembly.

André said PMI could only bring about change if it provided people with real alternatives.

Speaking about the pressing challenges which face the world today, he stressed that government action alone would not be enough to convince people to change their behavior.

In a Concordia panel discussion titled “Making P3s Work (for the Private Sector)”, he joined Dr. Kristin Lord (President & CEO of IREX) and Rachel Duan (President & CEO of GE’s Global Growth Organization).

As CEO of PMI, Calantzopoulos is spearheading the company’s transformation from selling cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives. There are currently more than 1 billion smokers in the world, so creating a smoke-free world will not be easy. But helping these people to change their behavior for the greater good is the sort of challenge being faced by many other companies and industries.

Here is the video of André Calantzopoulos’s speech:

He said: “We talk about climate change quite a lot, but there are so many other challenges and stresses on the human system – from soils becoming less productive to oceans. Everybody says we need more regulations, but at the end of the day, it is to convince people around the world to behave differently.

“To change people to use smoke-free products or solar panels is not an easy thing to do. You need to explain to people constantly what the issue is, and give them alternatives. And then give them incentives, fiscal and regulatory (frameworks), and hope this will happen. Just by hoping governments will do it doesn’t work, we need the private sector and NGOs and forums like these.”

Governments alone can’t expect people to change without giving them viable alternatives – and they require incentives to use these alternatives.

André continued: “At a certain stage, in order to change, you need to change attitudes. Criticizing tobacco won’t make consumers change.”

He stressed the need for international organizations to work at a local level to make the goals of transformation a reality. Although PMI is working hard to fulfill its vision of a smoke-free future, it cannot do it alone.

Explaining the challenges of global transformations, where markets and culture can differ widely, he said: “You need partnerships with other companies and local NGOs that help this transformation – you can put the money in, you can put the effort in, but you need to be local. And if you don’t have a presence in the country and make things happen, things won’t happen.” 

Originally from www.pmi.com

It’s Time for a New Conversation

An editorial published recently in the Lancet makes false accusations about PMI’s actions and motivations with respect to the #UnsmokeYourWorld campaign. The editorial describes the campaign as duplicitous or nonsensical, in light of the fact that PMI encourages people to stop smoking, while at the same time collecting much of its revenue from cigarette sales. These and other arguments made in the editorial completely miss the point. 

As a response to this arguments, Marian Salzman, Senior Vice President Global Communications speaks for PMI by providing the facts on the matter. 

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Philip Morris to Focus on Cigarette Alternatives

Philip Morris International, the company behind Marlboro, is to spend another $100m this year developing its alternative to traditional cigarettes as a global marketing drive intensifies to convert smokers to new products. Martin King, chief financial officer, said extra funds would be deployed to accelerate innovation of the company's IQOS product — a cigarette-like device that heats, rather than bums, tobacco. The plans, ahead of an imminent launch of IQOS in the US, are the latest sign of big tobacco ramping up investment to safeguard the industry's future. Rival manufacturers are fighting over a share of the market for alternatives as consumers reject traditional cigarettes at an accelerating rate. They include vaping company Juul, in which US tobacco group Altria took a 55 per cent stake last December for Sl3bn. 

How I Unsmoked My Best Friend

Today, it is not easy to find and trust a person that you can start a close friendship. I have just a few friends like this and I thank God for surrounding me with these trustworthy people.

One of those nice people is Mehmet. I met with Mehmet in 2007. We were both tax assistants in PwC. He was from Ankara and I was from Izmir. Due to the fact that the trainings were held in İstanbul, we shared the same room in the hotel. Since then, we became close friends and shared many things. Despite the distances we have, we always feel close to each other. Time passed by, we had things to laugh and things to cry, the one thing that doesn’t change was sharing the good and the bad experiences. Then first he got married and became a father, and later on I got married and became a father, too. In the holidays and vacations, we got together and enjoyed. The tune that our wives and sons caught was so fine and we became like a big family. People say that good things do not last long. He and his wife had made a decision, and this decision affected their life. One of the changes by Mehmet’s side after this decision was starting to smoke.

Unsmoke Hero: Volkan Yorulmaz

Unsmoke Hero: Volkan Yorulmaz

“I’ve got one son and he’s got one life." For Volkan Yorulmaz, the prospect of fatherhood prompted his decision to unsmoke his life and home.

The Turkish senior tax analyst is one of hundreds of PMI employees to share their stories in our #Unsmoke campaign, which aims to tap into global efforts to rid the world of smoke.