AF going out of business?

[d_apathy]

I went to pick up some AF at local shop. Turns out the lady said they're not allowed to sell it anymore that they're being sued for something.  Is this true?!

[d_apathy]

pity reply? lol

[Tessai]

I hear there having issues with exporting there product to the US,because of the tobacco taxes and such. Also, they might be coming out with a new look because of all the AF fakes out there (also rumored)

[d_apathy]

[quote name='Tessai']I hear there having issues with exporting there product to the US,because of the tobacco taxes and such. Also, they might be coming out with a new look because of all the AF fakes out there (also rumored)[/quote] I hope its temporary  AF is up there on the top 3 best sisha's i've ever smoked. It be a shame to let such a good product dissapear  .On the bright side, i picked up a tin of starbuzz guava and 2 tubs of havanna plum and coctail

[zzzzzT]

Maybe one of the retailers could tell us about this.

[Social Smoke]

This is my take on it. Much of this information comes from
our wide network of industry friends all across the country and some comes from
first hand knowledge. Obviously, there might be some errors as the information
has been passed to us.

The Al Fakher Tobacco supply has been unstable in America
for at least 2-3 years. It is one of the most popular and widely
distributed tobaccos in the world, so they are not going out of
business. But to make a long story short Al Fakher Company has had
very bad luck with their representatives and distributors.

1. The "Al Fakher" trademark is registered in America
to a company other than Al Fakher Company. This is why many Al Fakher boxes now
say "Golden Al Fakher" instead of Al Fakher. This was an attempt by
Al Fakher Company to sidestep the fact that in America
they have no right to use their own name.

2. The Company that owns the trade mark to "Al Fakher" and their logo
was at one point the sole distributor of Al Fakher in America,
but no longer represents Al Fakher Company or even has Al Fakher to sell.

3. Because of this, there have been lawsuits over people importing and distributing
it in America
since they technically violate the "Al Fakher" trademark.

4. Currently, The main importer and distributor for Al Fakher Company in America,
now imports "Golden Al Fakher". This new distributor was not
previously in the Hookah industry, familiar with the politics, and thought that
they could run everyone out of business to become the self proclaimed
"Costco" of the hookah industry. Unfortunately for them, they only
made enemies and no friends, so no one purchased from them and they according
to many sources have split into no less than 3 rival companies. Just recently,
however, which ever retained the rights to "Golden Al Fakher" sold it
to another company which intends to do control the market and drive the prices
up. A 30% price increase has already occurred within the last 2 weeks. At this
point, most companies and retailers have become fed up with the instability of
the product and people behind it and do not wish to carry it any longer.

Most likely the lady in d_apathy's original post might have been getting their
AF from a small importer that might have been threatened and forced to stop
importing it.

That’s my take on it.

Ali

[d_apathy]

Thanks ali, That pretty much sums up what I wanted to know. I'm hoping it all gets settled soon. I'm kinda confused as to who we're to buy the AF tabacco from now.