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April/May, 2001 |
Theo Rudman, Industry Guru, Launches Web Site
Theo Rudman, South Africa's most prominent cigar aficionado whose name has become synonymous worldwide with cigars, has launched a web site solely dedicated to cigars and related information. The address is: www.theorudman.com. Rudman, author of Rudman's Complete Pocket Guide To Cigars, Rudman's Complete Guide to Cigars, and Rudman's Cigar Buying Guide, is the founding editor of Cigarstyle, South Africa's leading quarterly cigar lifestyle magazine. The site contains periodic cigar reviews, a wealth of background information, and more.
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Cupido Cigars Seeks Autonomy thru Vertical Integration; Buys Tobacco Farm
ESTELI - Cupido Cigars, in conjunction with cigar manufacturer Kiki Berger of Esteli, Nicaragua, has purchased eighty acres of prime tobacco growing land in the Esteli valley. This region has long produced some of the finest ligero and seco leaves in Central America. Twenty acres are currently under cultivation, with the first harvest scheduled for this April. The balance of the acreage will be ready in time for next year's crop. This move is part of a strategy to vertically structure the company.
"In addition to growing our own binder and filler," reports principal Yossi Kviatkovsky, "We have just concluded a joint venture with Fatima Farms to supply wrapper that meets the demanding standards of quality our customers expect from Cupido." The company is also readying a 22,000 sq. foot "pre-industry" structure in time for the first harvest, which will be utilized for de-veining, curing, and fermenting operations. "Cupido's strategy puts us in the enviable position of gaining complete control over every phase of our cigar business, from the farm to the marketplace," says Kviatkovsky. "Through mergers and buyouts, a few giant firms now dominate the industry. Their buying power allows them to control the premium tobaccos. With only "leftover" leaf available, the smaller independents will have to pay higher cost for lower quality tobacco. |
Cue from Europe on New Tobacco Trends
FRANKFURT - Professional buyers of smokers' accessories were among the 152,000 visitors to the world's largest consumer goods fair, the Ambiente International Frankfurt Trade Fair, held in Frankfurt, Germany in February. Roughly 75 exhibitors presented products covering all aspects of smoking including a pavilion dedicated entirely to smoking merchandise, the Pipehouse fair.
Much of the merchandise reflected styles geared towards a younger smoker culture. Among the merchandise on display were innovative smoking implements in futuristic metallic colors with pre-dosed tobacco compartments - described as a cross between a cigarette-holder and a pipe. Such products were designed specifically to offer convenience and appeal to young adult smokers. Confirmation that the renaissance of expensive cigars has increased demand for high-grade accessories was provided by the appearance of tube-shaped cigar cases made from real leather or wood. In pipe trends, shapes are leaning more and more towards free-form designs, with larger pipes becoming increasingly important. Special hunting pipes, distinguished by high-quality carving, together with matching hand-carved pipe-stands featuring deer, dogs, horses and dragon motifs, were also a focal point. Exhibitors were primarily from Italy and Germany, but also included companies from Austria, Spain, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Japan, and Korea. |
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Tobacco Merchants Association to Market Extensive Industry Data
TMALive to Bring News, Archives Online in May PRINCETON, NJ - The Tobacco Merchants Association (TMA), the world's largest and oldest content provider to suppliers, manufacturers, and others in the global tobacco industry, will be making virtually all of its content available online, in what is the most extensive collection of searchable content on the web. TMA will unveil its extensive content marketplace at its all-industry conference to be held May 11, 2001 at Windows on the World in New York City, a day after its 86th annual meeting. Leading Wall Street securities analysts will convene in a panel discussion on May 10th to divine the future of tobacco in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to giving its content users the ability to craft personalized event-driven, hourly, daily, or weekly reports, TMALive enables content syndication to TMA member intranets and extranets over secure virtual private networks. TMA's content includes real-time streaming news and legislative and regulatory tracking, brand, country and company profiles, a "who's who" listing of industry players by sector, as well as a wide range of economic and statistical information from tax rates to demographics for all tobacco products and tobacco leaf. TMA content includes millions of pages of documents extending back to the 1860's. Unlike third party content providers who cover many industries, TMA's tobacco content, including its abstracts and indexing, is crafted by tobacco experts in Princeton, N.J., Hyderabad, India, Paris, and other locations around the world, representing over 70 years of collective tobacco knowledge. Its content is sourced on a 24 hour-a-day, six day-a-week basis from virtually all electronically enabled sources and many available only in hard-copy formats. TMA's electronic archives date back to the 1950's, and include several million pages of content, while its microfilm collections extend to the 1860's. |
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Cigar Warnings Now in Circulation
Nationwide labeling rules for cigar packaging and ads went into effect on February 13. Under the terms of agreements reached with the Federal Trade Commission last June, the seven largest U.S. cigar companies must include warnings in both their advertising and packaging about the significant adverse health risks associated with cigar use. The companies covered under the agreements represent approximately 95 percent of the U.S. cigar market: Swisher International, Inc., Altadis U.S.A., Inc. (formerly, Consolidated Cigar Corporation and Havatampa, Inc.), General Cigar Holdings, Inc., John Middleton, Inc., Lane Limited, Inc. and Swedish Match North America, Inc. Under the agreements, cigar packages and advertisements are required to clearly and prominently display one of five warnings on a rotating basis. |
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