Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States and internationally. The company also manufactures machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco; and maintains a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases principally in transportation, including aircraft, as well as power generation and manufacturing equipment and facilities. It serves wholesalers and distributors, large retail organizations and chain stores, and the armed services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

British American Tobacco Japan (BATJ) is busy catering to the will of the Japanese people while attempting to temper the regulatory decisions of the Japanese government. Having been tasked with providing smoking materials and accessories to the country's approximately 32 million smokers, BATJ also has its hand in helping to persuade or dissuade the government on taxation and regulations concerning the marketing and consumption of tobacco products. The more than 20-year-old subsidiary of British American Tobacco has 13 regional offices about Japan.

Century Distributors is a full-line supplier of tobacco products and grocery items that caters to some 3,000 customers, including supermarkets, news stands, bookstores, office supply stores, convenience stores, and liquor stores throughout Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC. Its products include frozen foods, health and beauty, foodservice, and tobacco, among others. The company boasts a more than 100,000-sq. ft. distribution warehouse. Other services Century offers include inventory control, manufacturer programs, and merchandising support. The mid-sized company is owned by Sheldon Sadugor and managed by his three children.

S&M counts two things -- cigarettes and racing -- among its favorites. S&M Brands makes and markets cigarettes under the Bailey's Cigarettes brand name, as well as under the Freedom of Choice label. CEO Malcolm (Mac) Bailey and his son Steven established the company in 1994. The "S&M" in the corporate name stands for "Steve and Mac." Bailey's Cigarettes are sold throughout the Southeastern US in Alabama, Florida, Delaware, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. S&M is a closely held, family-run company that boasts fifth-generation tobacco growers. The firm sponsors a NASCAR racing team to promote its brand.

Alliance One International, Inc. engages in purchasing, processing, storing, and selling leaf tobacco to cigarette manufacturers and other consumer tobacco products in the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. It offers flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos. The company also provides processing and related services to manufacturers of tobacco products. Alliance One International, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Imperial Tobacco Canada makes cigarettes, loose-leaf tobacco, and other tobacco-related products, including filter papers and tubes. It also operates marketing and event-planning subsidiaries. The company's brand names include du MAURIER, Player's, John Player, JPS, Matine, Peter Jackson, Sweet Caporal, Embassy, Hi-Dro, and others. Amid slumping sales, Imperial Tobacco in 2005 shuttered the last of its Canadian-based cigarette-making plants. Imperial Tobacco Canada was established in 1908 and is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco, one of the world's largest cigarette companies.

Zippo's refillable lighters (which come with a lifetime guarantee) are sold in more than 120 countries. Zippo also owns W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery (pocketknives) and makes key holders, money clips, pocket flashlights, tape measures, and writing instruments. George Blaisdell founded Zippo in 1932 after watching a friend try to light a cigarette in the wind. His daughters, Harriet Wick and Sarah Dorn (and her sons, George and Paul Duke), own Zippo. Thousands of collectors converge on Bradford, Pennsylvania, for the company's biennial swap meet.

JR Cigar company that began as a small Manhattan cigar shop is now a leading distributor and retailer of premium cigars. Its retail operations include a few discount outlet stores (all in North Carolina) and a direct-mail catalog operation. Its stores also sell pipe tobacco, tobacco accessories, humidors, lighters, coffee, and other specialty items such as a Montecristo golf club set. Orders also are taken on the company's Web site, which features JR Cigar University. The company hosts auctions on its Web site, as well, at JR Cigar Auction. The online database contains extensive information on cigars -- everything from storing them to lighting them up.

Rothmans company owns 60% of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH). RBH, Canada's #2 tobacco firm (Imperial Tobacco Canada is #1), makes and distributes cigarettes and roll- your-own tobaccos under top brands Craven "A" and Rothmans, as well as Belvedere, Benson and Hedges, Dunhill (licensed), Mark Ten, Number 7 (its best seller), and Viscount. RBH also distributes cut tobacco, mini-cigars, and pipe tobacco (Captain Black). Rothmans controls about a third of the Canadian tobacco product market. Philip Morris International (PMI) acquired Rothmans for about $2 billion in 2008.

Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken company produces a variety of brands, including Gauloises Blondes, Davidoff, Peter Stuyvesant, R1, and JPS. It sells its cigarettes through affiliated operations in more than 130 countries around the globe. Health-related legal complications have as yet not touched the company, since the majority of its sales come from areas outside those litigious towards cigarette makers. Reemtsma is a subsidiary of the UK's Imperial Tobacco.

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