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Leaf tobacco company Universal Corporation announced this week that it was forming a joint venture with botanical extraction company Avoca to form a new liquid nicotine manufacturing venture for the electronic cigarette industry. The new company will be called AmeriNic.

Universal Corp is one of the world’s largest leaf tobacco suppliers. It doesn’t itself manufacture cigarettes or other tobacco products. The company sells flue-cured (furnace dried) and burley (air cured) tobacco to many tobacco products manufacturers on the market.

According to a press release from the company, AmeriNic will focus on producing United States Pharmacopeia (USP) grade liquid nicotine using “traceable and compliant tobaccos.” The company expects to begin production before the end of the year.

This interesting news tidbit is the first sign of tobacco suppliers publicly jumping into the market (cigarette companies already have). Some experts have raised concern that if e-cigs do supplant cigarettes in the next decade (something that seems possible), that could truly hurt tobacco farmers. Although most nicotine currently comes from tobacco, a pharmaceutical nicotine might be derived that makes most tobacco farming endeavors unnecessary.

This is not unlike stores looking for ways to keep customers coming in when so many sales are now much easier and often cheaper online. It’s unlikely you’ll hear the AmeriNic name too much in the future. If they operate at all like Universal Corp, they’ll simply supply the end manufacturers and direct sellers.