REFLECTIONS (WORRIES) ON CUBAN CIGARS · his new documentary film on Cuban cigars “Cigars: The...
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JAMES SUCKLING Besuchen Sie James Suckling auf www.heartandsoulofcuba.com und schauen Sie sich seinen neuen Dokumentarfilm über kuba- nische Zigarren „Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba“ an. Visit James Suckling at www.heartandsoulofcuba.com or watch his new documentary film on Cuban cigars “Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba.” 115 his year’s Festival del Habano was another among many successful ci- gar festivals in Havana. However, after visiting cigar factories, talking to peo- ple, and smoking cigars while I was there I have some concerns about the current state of Cuban cigars. It’s impressive that last year’s sales of Cuban cigars increased about six per- cent in value and generated about $416 million. I’d say this came through price increases, because figures I saw during seminars show that unit sales were over- all flat, or only up a few points. I’m sure more price increases are on the way, which is not a good thing consid- ering the fragile global economy. But that’s another issue. No one talks about actual export fig- ures, but estimates I hear are between 85 and 95 million cigars – about a 30 or 40 percent decline over a decade. It will be some time before Cuban cigar exports reach nine-digit figures again. This sustained drop in cigar exports from Cuba must be due to a number of reasons, but the biggest one must be the decline in places to smoke. In other words, it’s not Cuba’s fault. Recent changes in the cigar industry in Cuba also concern me. Habanos SA, the global distribution and marketing organization for Cuban cigars, has new heads – both seem highly capable. However, it’s worrying that just about every major cigar factory on the island, not to mention cigar shops, seems to have a new boss. Of course, this was necessary to stamp out alleged corrup- tion in the cigar industry, but all this could be destabilizing for Cuban cigars for a while. And I think it may already be happening. Walking around the temporary Par- tagás factory, I was surprised at how many rollers were very, very young. Moreover, the rolling school was packed with students – close to 200 in total. The teacher of the school said that they were constantly searching for new rollers as a generation of workers was retiring. It could all add up to less good quali- ty cigars. I haven’t had these thoughts since the late Nineties and early 2000s when quality clearly declined, and I hope we’re not experiencing the start of something similar. Of course, these are just reflections on Cuban cigars for the moment. I may be wrong. I have seen a lot of ups and downs while tra- veling to Cuba every year since 1992. But my gut feeling tells me otherwise. T REFLECTIONS (WORRIES) ON CUBAN CIGARS I have some concerns about the state of Cuban cigars. Trend in den kubanischen Fabriken: Neue Direktoren und viele junge Zigarrenroller A trend in Cuban factories: new directors and many young cigar rollers Fotos: James Suckling
Transcript of REFLECTIONS (WORRIES) ON CUBAN CIGARS · his new documentary film on Cuban cigars “Cigars: The...
JAMES SUCKLING
Besuchen Sie James Suckling auf www.heartandsoulofcuba.com und schauen Sie sich seinen neuen Dokumentarfilm über kuba-nische Zigarren „Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba“ an.Visit James Suckling at www.heartandsoulofcuba.com or watch his new documentary film on Cuban cigars “Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba.”
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his year’s Festival del Habano was another among many successful ci-gar festivals in Havana. However, after visiting cigar factories, talking to peo-ple, and smoking cigars while I was there I have some concerns about the current state of Cuban cigars.It’s impressive that last year’s sales of Cuban cigars increased about six per-cent in value and generated about $416 million. I’d say this came through price increases, because figures I saw during seminars show that unit sales were over-all flat, or only up a few points. I’m sure more price increases are on the way, which is not a good thing consid-ering the fragile global economy. But that’s another issue.No one talks about actual export fig-ures, but estimates I hear are between 85 and 95 million cigars – about a 30 or 40 percent decline over a decade. It will be some time before Cuban cigar exports reach nine-digit figures again. This sustained drop in cigar exports from Cuba must be due to a number of reasons, but the biggest one must be the decline in places to smoke. In other words, it’s not Cuba’s fault.Recent changes in the cigar industry in Cuba also concern me. Habanos SA, the global distribution and marketing organization for Cuban cigars, has new heads – both seem highly capable. However, it’s worrying that just about
every major cigar factory on the island, not to mention cigar shops, seems to have a new boss. Of course, this was necessary to stamp out alleged corrup-tion in the cigar industry, but all this could be destabilizing for Cuban cigars for a while. And I think it may already be happening.Walking around the temporary Par-tagás factory, I was surprised at how many rollers were very, very young. Moreover, the rolling school was packed with students – close to 200 in total. The teacher of the school said
that they were constantly searching for new rollers as a generation of workers was retiring.It could all add up to less good quali-ty cigars. I haven’t had these thoughts since the late Nineties and early 2000s when quality clearly declined, and I hope we’re not experiencing the start of something similar. Of course, these are just reflections on Cuban cigars for the moment. I may be wrong. I have seen a lot of ups and downs while tra-veling to Cuba every year since 1992. But my gut feeling tells me otherwise.
T
REFLECTIONS (WORRIES) ON CUBAN CIGARSI have some concerns about the state of Cuban cigars.
Trend in den kubanischen Fabriken: Neue Direktoren und viele junge ZigarrenrollerA trend in Cuban factories: new directors and many young cigar rollersFo
tos:
Jam
es S
uckl
ing
