Early next year, ITG Brands LLC will have a new CEO and President in Dan Carr. For the past year, Carr had been serving as President of ITG Brands. Carr is best known for his tenure at General Cigar Company where he served as its President for over five years.

Carr succeeds David Taylor who is retiring as CEO effective January 31st, 2018. At that time Carr will take on the responsibilities as CEO. The move is one that has been a carefully orchestrated plan of succession over the past year.

“This step is the culmination of a long succession planning process,” Taylor said. “Dan was recruited for this position based on his extensive leadership experience in the tobacco industry and he has spent the last year as president learning the complexities of our business operations.”

ITG Brands LLC is a U.S. subsidiary that technically is the third largest tobacco company in the U.S. It focuses on cigarette, electronic cigarette, and machine-made cigars. From a cigar standpoint, it produces mass market/machine-made products such as Dutch Masters, Backwoods, and Phillies. It offers cigarette brands include Winston, Kool, Salem, Maverick, and USA Gold as well as Blu e-Cigs electronic cigarettes. Parent company Imperial  Tobacco Group also owns Tabacalera USA, the U.S. premium cigar division of Imperial which includes Altadis U.S.A.

For the past year, Carr had been focused on ITG Brands’ manufacturing, sales and marketing teams. During that time, the company made gains in volume and market share of its cigarette and mass market cigar segments.

“David’s leadership was vital in the company becoming a viable competitor in the U.S. tobacco industry in only two and a half years,” Carr said. “He has laid the foundation for our success and sustainability for the future, and it is truly an honor to follow him in our next phase of growth. I am thrilled to lead this world-class group of talented individuals in further elevating our iconic brands, building upon our superior customer engagement and ensuring that we continue to collaboratively transform and work efficiently across our business.”

Photo Credit: Imperial Tobacco Group