THE WEST Indian Tobacco Company (Witco) has ceased production of Mt Dor, du Maurier Lights and du Maurier Menthol brands of cigarettes effective immediately.

Witco managing director Jean-Pierre du Coudray told the Express in an interview last week that the move to de-list the three products is part of a strategic plan to build a robust portfolio for the tobacco company.

Du Coudray said that three main points were taken into consideration before the decision was taken to do away with the line of cigarettes.

One such consideration was the relevance of the brand.

Mt Dor only held about three per cent of the market share in the industry and customers of that product were already switching to Pall Mall cigarettes, launched locally by Witco in January.

With regard to du Maurier Lights and Menthol, these products only held four per cent of the market share and Pall Mall was also being offered in Light and Menthol so these customers would also now have an alternative, he said.

The Witco managing director added that Witco was responsible for the manufacture of cigarettes for the entire region and the stop in production of these three types of cigarettes would help the company to be more productive and cost effective.

The third reason given was on the marketing side as money previously spent on the promotion of these brands could now be put toward effective promotion of the existing brand.

"More focus can be out on our other brands now," du Coudray said.