Black Lives Matter.

These three words aren't a trend. They are the truth. We stand in solidarity with the Black community. We stand against systemic racism.

We understand that racism is not a new issue in this country, and not fighting against it is no longer an option. When we looked at ourselves, we saw that through the years we have respected and highlighted the spirit of Black musicians, creatives and entrepreneurs, but we haven’t done enough in the fight against systemic racism or economic inequality.

But Today We Start.

This fight will take more than monetary donations, it will take meaningful actions. John Middleton Co. is establishing a Black-Owned Business Initiative to create sustainable and effective change in order to help close the economic gap. Economic inequality won’t go away overnight. And neither will our commitment to this cause.

Our First Steps:

1. Provide an initial $1MM commitment to nonprofits that support Black-Owned Businesses in our community.
2. Strengthen relationships and continue spending toward Black-Owned vendors and suppliers.
3. Utilize our marketing efforts to amplify Black-Owned Businesses.

In 2007, we joined the Altria family of companies and are guided by Altria's Vision and Our Cultural Aspiration. We continue to honor our heritage and tradition, making premium tobacco products in Richmond, Virginia and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is not far from our original Philadelphia home.

We're proud to be a leading manufacturer and marketer of cigars and pipe tobacco. Our Black & Mild brand is the second-best selling large machine-made cigar in the U.S. Our strategy is to maximize income, while maintaining momentum on Black & Mild over time.

In Black & Mild's 2019 full-year volume was 1.64 billion sticks and year-over-year growth was 3.2 percent. We also manufacture pipe tobacco with brands including Prince Albert, Carter Hall and Middleton's Cherry Blend.

Our Employees

Our industry faces big challenges. That's why we develop high-performing and engaged employees who help us continue to deliver superior results in the future. We do so by promoting a vibrant, inclusive workplace; attracting, developing and retaining talented and diverse people; rewarding and recognizing our employees and creating a safe workplace. Learn More

Responsibility At John Middleton

We define responsibility by the actions a company takes to address society's expectations. We're guided by Altria's Vision and Our Cultural Aspiration, with corporate responsibility at the core.

We approach responsibility by understanding our stakeholders' perspectives, aligning our business practices where appropriate and measuring and communicating our progress.

• Helping Reduce Underage Tobacco Use
• Supporting Cessation
• Supply Chain
• Our Employees
• Environmental Management
• Investing in Communities
• Government Affairs

Our cigar brands include Black & Mild, Middleton's Cherry Blend, Gold & Mild and Prince Albert's. Our tipped cigars are filled with pipe tobacco. This began in the 1960s, when we discovered that while many people enjoyed the taste and aroma of pipe tobacco, they did not have the time or experience to smoke a pipe. This led us to develop a new product — a pipe-tobacco cigar. Black & Mild Cigarillos are made from a unique blend of both air-cured and pipe tobaccos. Our cigars are large cigars as defined by the Internal Revenue Code for excise tax purposes.

Our pipe-tobacco brands include Prince Albert, Carter Hall and Middleton's Cherry Blend.

View the complete list of John Middleton products.

These have been, and continue to be, the messages of the U.S. Surgeon General and public health authorities worldwide. Current and potential cigar and pipe smokers should be guided by these messages when deciding whether or not to smoke cigars or pipes.

In this section of our website you will find information on cigar- and pipe-related messages, as well as links to government and public health authorities, including the U.S. Surgeon General's reports related to tobacco. Click on the links at the right to obtain more information about cigar and pipe smoking and health.

Smoking & Disease

Cigar and pipe smoking causes serious diseases. The U.S. Surgeon General and other public health authorities have determined that:

• Cigar and pipe smoking causes cancers of the mouth and throat, even if you do not inhale.
• Cigar and pipe smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease.
• Tobacco use increases the risk of infertility, stillbirth and low birth weight.
• Cigar and pipe smoking is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.
• Tobacco smoke increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, even in nonsmokers.

Supporting Cessation

According to the National Cancer Institute, "to those currently smoking cigars, quitting is the only way to eliminate the documented harm that can result from cigar smoking." For cigar and pipe smokers who have decided to quit, a wealth of expert quitting information exists from public health authorities and others. For example:

• www.smokefree.gov is a website from the National Cancer Institute that provides free information and professional help to people trying to quit using tobacco.
• 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) is a toll-free telephone number that connects callers to their state-run quitline for counseling and information about quitting tobacco.Should a state not have a quitline, callers are routed to the National Cancer Institute quitline.
• Middleton provides a free resource called QuitAssist^®, designed to connect cigar and pipe smokers who have decided to quit to expert quitting information from public health authorities and others.
• Learn more about John Middleton's efforts to support cigar and pipe smokers who have decided to quit.

Consumer Communications

We work hard to market our products to adult smokers and to limit the reach of our materials to unintended audiences. We verify that smokers are 21 or older before they receive branded one-to-one communications, enter a brand website or attend a consumer engagement program.

• One-to-one Communications - We use direct mail and email to support the launch of products, invite adult tobacco smokers to consumer engagement programs, announce brand promotions and deliver coupons and other communications. To help execute one-to-one consumer communications, we maintain a secure database of qualified adult tobacco smokers that are age-verified and have told us they would like to hear from us. A person may request to no longer receive communications from us at any time.
• Consumer Websites - Our age-restricted brand website enables adult tobacco smokers to interact with the Black & Mild brand. We use online communications to build brand equity, deliver news and provide promotional support. Learn more
• Consumer Marketing Activities - At times, we offer consumer engagement programs that reinforce brand equity, support the launch of products and deliver promotions to adult tobacco smokers.
• Determining Magazine Advertising Placement - We advertise in magazines to build awareness of our brands with adult tobacco consumers. When selecting the magazines, we're careful to pick those publications that are predominately read by adults. Where we use print advertising (newspapers, magazines, periodicals or other publications), we are guided by the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed definition of the term "adult publication". Under this standard, an adult publication is one:
  • whose readers younger than 18 years of age constitute 15 percent or less of the total readership as measured by competent and reliable survey evidence; and
  • that is read by fewer than two million persons younger than 18 years of age as measured by competent and reliable survey evidence.

Trade Programs

We offer trade programs to retailers and wholesalers that help them responsibly manage the cigar category. Our retail trade program is built on effective category management principles, including:

• merchandising our products in an organized way;
• having our brands in-stock and available;
• having our most popular brands in the preferred positions;
• clearly communicating price and promotional offers; and
• deterring access by underage purchasers.

The program also includes several features to help prevent underage access to tobacco products, such as store clerk training and access prevention signage. In addition, we've developed rigorous compliance and training systems to govern marketing material production.

We also limit the number of Middleton signs at retail.

About Product Placement

We do not pay for or endorse any placement of our products or brand imagery in any movies, television shows, video games or entertainment media. We have a long-standing practice of refusing requests for product placement or use of our brand imagery and have taken legal action where appropriate.