Cortès has agreed to acquire ECMI, a cigar business in Ireland.
ECMI has shown considerable volume growth and will benefit from the expertise and size of J. Cortès. As part of the group, it will be better equipped to overcome the challenges, such as the new EU Tobacco Product Directive.
“We believe that the new group will be stronger in relation to our suppliers, adherence to legislation and the markets,” says Fred Vandermarliere, CEO of J. Cortès
Vandermarliere has taken over as managing director from Aoife O’Dowd.
Aoife will take up a new role as key account manager for ECMI’s private labels and she will have an active role in the further sales growth of the J. Cortès group of companies.
The ECMI management team will remain in place and will be supported by Jos Breemans who acts on behalf of J. Cortés as general manager to create a smooth transition of the ownership.
A businessman who is growing tobacco in Ireland is hoping that cigars made from his leaf will be on sale next year, according to a story by Declan O’Brien for the Irish Independent.
Harry Everard of Kilsheelan, County Tipperary, has secured a license from the Revenue Commissioners for growing and handling tobacco, and has produced two crops to date, one in 2015 and one in 2016.
While most tobacco, especially cigar tobacco, is grown in warmer climates than Ireland’s, Everard says the crop thrives in Irish conditions.
Indeed, Exclusive Cigar Manufacturers of Ireland (ECMI) in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, have already produced a batch of cigars from Everard’s tobacco that were sampled by industry connoisseurs.
Everard was quoted as saying that the results of those samplings were very positive and had given the project a massive boost.
Not that he ever doubted that tobacco could be grown in Ireland. Although born and reared in England, his great, great, grandfather, Sir Nugent Everard, pioneered the cultivation of the crop at his estate outside Navan, County Meath, in the late 19th century.
Everard said that the crops grown in 2015 and 2016 both did “very well”, but that they were “not without issues”.
“I have proven at this stage that it is possible to grow good quality tobacco in Ireland,” he said. “The challenge now is to make this a viable and feasible business.”
Everard, who managed a chain of 15 bars and restaurants in London before moving to Ireland with his family, maintains that an outlet exists for cigars manufactured in Ireland from home-produced tobacco.
“I feel there is a niche market out there, especially among the Irish abroad, for a quality cigar made with Irish tobacco,” he said.
“I would like to think we will supply our first cigars to this market by mid-2018.”
Steve Saka has retired as the CEO of Drew Estate, its family of companies and its subsidiaries. Saka joined the company as president in July 2005 and was promoted to CEO in July 2012.
“The team at Drew Estate would like to thank Steve for all of his hard work and dedication over the past eight years,” said company owners Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel. “His passion, leadership and expertise are a very rare combination within our industry. Steve will be truly missed, and we wish him all the best moving forward.”
During Saka’s tenure, Drew Estate has become one of the world’s largest and most successful premium handmade cigar manufacturers.
In addition to managing Drew Estate, Saka has written extensively about cigars and black tobaccos. He is a pioneer in the online media segment as the executive editor of CigarNexus.com and an experienced cigar blender and maker.
Drew Estate has acquired the Heavenly Cigar Co. of in Naples, Florida, USA.
“We are extremely excited about this acquisition and look forward to building the Heavenly cigar brand further across the U.S.,” said Michael Cellucci, president of Drew Estate. “We believe that with our expertise and innovation we have the ability to fully realize the potential of the Heaven line of products.”
Heavenly Cigar Co.products will be featured at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Convention and International Trade Show in July at the Drew Estate booth.
Established in 1996, Drew Estate is a privately held, U.S.-headquartered manufacturer and distributor of premium cigars. Drew Estate’s Nicaraguan factory handcrafts brands such as Liga Privada, La Vieja Habana and Herrera Esteli.
In an unusual move that has attracted some criticism, India’s Uttar Pradesh state government has slashed the VAT on cigarettes and cigars from 50 percent to 25 percent.
According to a report in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter, the decision to reduce VAT was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, which is hoping to halt the loss in revenue that followed an increase in VAT last year.
The level of VAT levied on cigarettes and cigars was increased in 2012 from 12.5 percent to 50 percent.
Royal Agio Cigars has appointed Asia Marketing Services as its agent for the Asia Pacific region. Asia Marketing Services will be responsible for coordinating the sales and marketing efforts of the Agio Cigars brands in the Asia Pacific domestic and travel retail markets.
“This strategic partnership with Asia Marketing Services will enable us to continue growing the business together with our dedicated domestic and travel retail partners and pursue the opportunities that lie ahead of us in the region,” said Marcel Michels, chief sales officer of Agio Cigars
“We are proud to represent Agio Cigars well known brands of cigars to the domestic and duty free/travel retail markets,” said Hans Rijfkogel, director of Asia Marketing Services. “This is a terrific opportunity for us and we are honored that Agio Cigars have chosen Asia Marketing Services as their agent.”
Agio Cigars is a leading cigar manufacturers in Europe, offering brands such as Agio Tip, Mehari’s, Panter and Balmoral.
The U.S. unit of one of the major players in the world of European-style, machine-made cigars is expanding its presence on the premium side of the business.
Villiger Cigars North America, the U.S. arm of Villiger Söhne AG of Pfeffikon, Switzerland, has expanded its small but growing stable of handmade cigar brands, according to a story in Cigar Aficionado.
Villiger Colorado has a pair of new sizes, a 6-inch-long, 60 ring gauge Gordo (suggested retail price $10.50) and a corona measuring 5 1/2 inches by 44 ring ($6.99), pushing the brand to six sizes. Villiger Talanga has been expanded by one size, adding a corona (5 1/2 by 44, $6.99), giving the line five sizes in all.
Both cigar brands are made in Nicaragua by the Plasencia family for Villiger Cigars North America, a Charlotte, North Carolina, company that is headed by president Roy MacLaren.
MacLaren wanted to add a Gordo to Villiger Talanga, too, but found the blend wasn’t as appealing in that size.
Villiger is a company that turns 125 this year, and while it’s a force in small machine-made cigars, particularly in Europe, the company has a very small presence in the premium business in the United States. MacLaren aims to change that.
Cigar makers are trying to snuff out an effort by the Food and Drug Administration to regulate their products for the first time.
The FDA said in its regulatory agenda for the year that it would propose rules in April to expand federal oversight of tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The news was welcomed by tobacco giants, such as Altria, that want all tobacco products to be brought under the same regulations, according to a Washington, D.C. regulation blog The Hill.
Sellers and makers of premium cigars — often hand-rolled, slow-burning and made with aged tobacco leaves — say the FDA is overreaching, and are hiring lobbyists to fight back.
Glynn Loope, the executive director of Cigar Rights of America, said the FDA’s move is “a classic case of going beyond congressional intent.”
“When Congress passed the original Tobacco Control Act, it was really to address two primary points: youth access to tobacco and chemical addition. Premium cigars don’t meet that criteria,” Loope said.
Another trade group for cigar retailers and manufacturers agreed that the FDA is distorting the law.
“It’s our belief that the act was to prevent youth from smoking and curtail the health effects for youth,” said Bill Spann, CEO of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.
Spann said FDA meddling could have a devastating impact on cigar shops. The group has warned that regulators could ban walk-in humidors and seasonal cigar blends, restrict store advertising or even place graphic warning labels on the ornate cigar boxes that are coveted by collectors.
The pushback against FDA rules is also coming from overseas.
In February, the Cigar Rights of America organized a letter from the ambassadors of the tobacco-growing nations Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua to officials at the White House, State Department and the FDA, warning that new regulation would threaten thousands of jobs and “raise the specter of political and economic consequences within our region.”
The Switzerland-based cigar producer, Oettinger Davidoff Group, will be represented in Austria by its own subsidiary beginning in May, Davidoff of Geneva Austria GmbH, according to an APA Economic News Service story.
Austria is the 10th biggest market for the group, which is said to have a presence in 150 countries and to employ 3,700 people around the world.
ATD Machinery of the Netherlands has become an independent company, ATD Machinery BV, as of Jan. 1, 2013.
Previously the technical department of Agio Cigars, ATD has over the years evolved into a full-fledged supplier of machinery to the global cigar industry.
To learn more about the newly independent ATD Machinery, visit www.atdmachinery.nl.
