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Asset Impairment, Exit and Implementation Costs
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]  
Asset Impairment, Exit, and Implementation Costs Asset Impairment, Exit and Implementation Costs
Pre-tax asset impairment, exit and implementation costs (income) consisted of the following:
(in millions)Asset Impairment
and Exit Costs		Implementation CostsTotal
For the year ended December 31, 2020201920212020
2019 (1)
202120202019
Smokeable products
$2 $59 $— $— $33 $— $2 $92 
Oral tobacco products(5)9 — — 5 — (5)14 
Wine— 76 1 411 — 1 411 76 
All other
— 14 — — (10)— — 4 
General corporate
(1)1 — — — — (1)1 
Total(4)159 1 411 28 1 407 187 
Plus amounts included in net periodic benefit (income) cost, excluding service cost (2)
— 29 — — — — — 29 
Total$(4)$188 $1 $411 $28 $1 $407 $216 
(1) Included in cost of sales ($2 million) and marketing, administration and research costs ($26 million) in Altria’s consolidated statement of earnings (losses).
(2) Represents settlement and curtailment costs. See Note 16. Benefit Plans.
Pre-tax implementation costs for 2021 and 2020, which were included in cost of sales in Altria’s consolidated statements of earnings (losses), were related to Ste. Michelle’s strategic reset, as discussed below.
Pre-tax asset impairment, exit and implementation costs for 2019 were primarily related to the cost reduction program discussed below, and the impairment of goodwill for the wine reporting unit. See Note 4. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, net.
▪Wine Business Strategic Reset: During the year ended December 31, 2020, Ste. Michelle recorded pre-tax implementation costs of $411 million associated with a strategic reset initiated in the first quarter of 2020 intended to maximize Ste. Michelle’s profitability and achieve improved long-term cash flow generation. Substantially all of the charges consisted of the following: (i) write-off of inventory ($292 million) as Ste. Michelle no longer believed that the benefit of the blending and production plans for its inventory outweighed inventory carrying cost given the reduced product volume demand; and (ii) estimated losses on future non-cancelable grape purchase commitments that Ste. Michelle believed no longer had a future economic benefit ($100 million).
▪Cost Reduction Program: In December 2018, Altria announced a cost reduction program that included workforce reductions and third-party spending reductions across the businesses. As a result of the cost reduction program, Altria recorded total pre-tax restructuring charges of $250 million, which included employee benefit-related curtailment and settlement costs. Of this amount, Altria recorded net pre-tax cost reversals of $4 million in 2020 and pre-tax charges of $133 million in 2019. The total charges, the majority of which resulted in cash expenditures, related primarily to employee separation costs of $198 million and other costs of $52 million. Cash payments of $11 million, $44 million and $136 million were made during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, for total program cash payments of $191 million. The cash payments and pre-tax charges related to this cost reduction program are complete.