Podcast & Interviews

Podcast #31:

Tadas Lisauskas, Founder & CEO, Greenbutts

Tadas Lisauskas is the founder and CEO of San Diego-based Greenbutts. The company has invented a revolutionary cigarette filter material that may well have a shot at eventually displacing the presently used (but environmentally unfriendly) cellulose acetate tow (CAT). The Greenbutts substrate is 100% plastic-free, as it is composed solely of natural fibers and a starch-based binding agent. When immersed in water, Greenbutts completely disintegrates and disperses in 30 days, while on land it takes about 60 days. There are no residues left behind, let alone dreaded micro plastics. Lisauskas talks to Thomas Schmid about the numerous advantages of the patented material, but also discloses why the industry is so reluctant in adopting it on a broader scale.

Podcast #30:

Tao Cui

With increasingly more countries starting to ban disposable vapes, Chinese manufacturers are scrambling to adjust to the fast changing landscape. For some, it will be easier than for others, as they have always put a heavy focus on innovation. Tao Cui is Director of Innovation, Strategy and Compliance at Innokin Technology, one of China’s most progressive vape tech firms. In this podcast episode, he tells the audience what Innokin has up its sleeves, including MeFree, the world’s first metal-free heating coil, EcoDrain, a technology that makes batteries safe to discard, and Trine, a groundbreaking “3-in-1” vape system. 

Podcast #29:

Christian Adi Njoto Njoo - Vice President at PT Mangli Djaya Raya



Christian Adi Njoto Njoo is the president of well-known Indonesian leaf merchant, PT. Mangli Djaya Raya. The company recently established a wholly-owned subsidiary, PT. Besuki Raya Cigars, one of Indonesia’s few premium cigar manufacturers. With brands such as El Gaucho, Airlangga, Brawijaya and, oddly, MyLockdown, the firm intends to restore an industry that had withered following Indonesia’s independence in 1945 from Dutch colonial rule and put Indonesia back on international cigar smokers’ radar. 

Podcast #28:

Reimund Ameskamp (Ray) is head of international business at 250-year-old J.W. von Eicken, which is located in the old Hanseatic city of Lubeck, and today is Germany’s last remaining independent cigarette manufacturer. Ray fills us in how his company successfully prevails against the overwhelming competition from multinationals as well as an increasingly difficult regulatory environment, not only at home but also in dozens of countries abroad. While Ray admits that it is not always easy, von Eicken’s eclectic cigarette brand portfolio exclusively “Made in Germany” continues to strike a chord with smokers in many corners of the world. 

Podcast #27:

Mitja Carstensen, Managing Director & Founder - Fluxcode GmbH

Tobacco product track & trace has become an obligation in all but a handful of markets. To handle all required processes with ease, German company Fluxcode is offering a groundbreaking all-in-one software suite that is not only fully compliant with the European Union’s TPD2 but also the T&T systems of the Middle East and Russia. Fluxcode’s managing director and co-founder, Mitja Carstensen, explains why his software product is the application of choice for any modern tobacco manufacturer.