Drew Estate Not Exhibiting at TPE 2021

Drew Estate—one of the largest exhibitors and a key sponsor of the event—will not be in Las Vegas for the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) this May.

The company says that because of health and safety concerns, it will not be exhibiting in-person at TPE 2021.

“As you know from prior communications personally from me, as well as through discussions with your account representative, Drew Estate has been steadfast in its commitment to protect the health of our employees and their families, our customers and their employees and families, as well as consumers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Glenn Wolfson, ceo of Drew Estate, in a letter to retailers. “This has been and remains, priority number one. While the number of new infections seems to be slowing and vaccinations to prevent the spread of the virus are now being distributed, Dew Estate has not yet changed our internal protocols regarding employee travel and event attendances. Thus, we simply could not commit to our trusted partners at TPE that would we would be in a position to so by the time this year’s TPE tradeshow took place.”

Last week, Tobacco Media Group—the Kretek International division that operates TPE—said that the event would take place, in-person from May 12-14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It will be the first in-person tobacco trade show for American retailers since TPE 2020 took place last January.

Over the last few years, Drew Estate has been one of the largest exhibitors at TPE with one of the largest booths, as well as a sponsored smoking lounge. In addition, it’s also been a title sponsor for events and other programs done during the show.

Wolfson’s letter said that instead of in-person exhibiting, Drew Estate would bring “the show directly to (retailers) virtually, very similar to what you experienced last year but with some new twists.” In addition, he mentioned the company would have both new products and sales promotions to coincide with TPE 2021.