Richmond cigarettes were produced briefly in Canada by Imperial Tobacco, which introduced the brand in 1968 as a filtered king-size. It was Imperial’s first and only brand which used the Strickman Filter, an early high-filtration filter tip which was thought to reduce particulate matter in the smoke more effectively than the standard celluose-acetate filter tip. These claims were later disproved, and the brand was withdrawn by the early 1970s.1

Richmond was re-introduced into U.K. markets in 1999 as a value brand.2 The brand is in competition at the lower end of the market, against value U.K. cigarette brands such as Mayfair, “Sovereign” and “Park Road”.

Richmond’s variants Superkings and King Size are the fourth and fifth top-selling brand of cigarettes in the UK respectively.5 They are characterised by the bright blue packaging, which in early 2006 underwent a redesign: the serif font used being replaced for a more modern sans-serif, and general appearance becoming more minimalist.6 However, since 20 May 2016, none of these colours have been manufactured on the packets due to plain packaging laws coming into force.

In 2008, new limited edition packs of Richmond cigarettes were released under the name “Chill Edition”. In 2011, Richmond cigarette packaging across the brand varieties was updated, with the introduction of tactile feedback packaging experimented with in the 2008 Chill Edition packaging.7

In August 2011, the Richmond brand introduced a new variant. ‘Richmond Superslims’8 follow in the wider introduction to the UK tobacco products market of ‘demi-slim’ cigarettes, such as British American Tobacco’s Vogue Perle brand.

They come in the following varieties: 1. Richmond Real Blue King Size and Superkings. 2. Richmond Bright Blue (Smooth) King Size and Superkings. 3. Richmond Green Filter King Size and Superkings (formerly Richmond Green Fusion)