RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 5,
2014 /PRNewswire/ -- George C. Freeman,
III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) ("Universal"), announced today
that the Company's subsidiary, Universal Leaf North America U.S.,
Inc. ("ULNA") will increase its direct purchases of flue-cured and
burley tobaccos, expanding its support of United States tobacco growers, as part of a
new leaf supply agreement with Philip Morris International Inc.
("PMI"). PMI's decision to adopt a new leaf buying model for
their U.S. leaf purchasing operations, announced separately today,
provides for a transition from a direct farmer contracting model to
purchasing processed grades of tobaccos through two global leaf
suppliers in the United States.
The transition is expected to provide important supply chain
efficiencies and is indicative of PMI's and Universal's strong
commitment to the grower communities and PMI's intent to remain a
major purchaser of U.S.-grown leaf tobacco. The change will be
effective for the 2015 crop and will include the assignment of
certain grower contracts and use of receiving station
operations.
Mr. Freeman stated, "We are very excited about this opportunity
to meet the evolving needs of one of our longstanding global
business partners, while broadening our leaf purchasing and grower
support activities in the United States. As the global leader
in the supply of leaf tobacco, we are well positioned to continue
our support of Good Agricultural Practices, and are committed to
the expansion of the Agricultural Labor Practices code ("ALP")
across our full U.S. grower base. ALP is designed to further
our corporate goals and the goals of our customers' of
progressively addressing and eliminating concerns found in
agriculture with child and other labor issues, and achieving safe
and fair working conditions on all farms from which we source
tobacco."
Clayton G. Frazier, President of
ULNA, added, "The expansion of direct contracting by Universal will
provide procurement synergies and economies of scale and will
promote efficient leaf utilization of packed grades of U.S.
tobaccos supplied to PMI and our other customers. In
addition, we look forward to expanding our relationships and
services to further strengthen our grower communities. These
positive developments, in conjunction with our recently announced
entry into the sweet potato juicing and dehydration business,
Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients, Inc., illustrate the
continued strong commitment of Universal to tobacco growers in
the United States. The production
of sweet potatoes provides many tobacco farmers with an important
and economically viable crop grown in rotation with tobacco."
Headquartered in Richmond,
Virginia, Universal Corporation is the leading global leaf
tobacco supplier and conducts business in more than 30
countries. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended
March 31, 2014, were $2.5 billion. For more information on Universal
Corporation, visit its website at www.universalcorp.com.
SOURCE Universal Corporation