Before, we passed through the rubble of one of the 38 controlled cure houses that the territory has. “The cyclone completely knocked down the tobacco house,” says López González as he points to the entire structure on the ground. Below you can see the tobacco that is still covered with hermetic tarpaulins.

“The horcones, which were from Ocuje de María, a strong material, he pulled out by the roots and some he broke. Everything is messed up. The cover was repairing it and now there is nothing left. The wires are still watered. The zinc plates on the roof blew up and I couldn’t recover them,” lamented this farmer.

After the passage of the hurricane – assures the producer – nobody has touched anything. “I’m waiting for the company to decide what to do with the product because in there, in addition to wet tobacco, there is also dry tobacco.”

Around 4 in the morning last Tuesday, Conrado and his wife began to put a blanket on one of the blinds through which the water entered and a zinc that flew out of the ceiling cut his face and her back. .

“María Isabel got under the plateau and from there she did not want to get out because of the scare. The house completely fell apart; Last night I slept under the night watchman,” says the man from San Juan.

Despite his personal effects, what worries him the most is the damage to the harvested tobacco. “I have recovered some fibers and in two or three days my house will have a roof.”

Regarding the recovery of the cooperative, he said: “With the wood that is there I can build another tobacco house, even if it is smaller. If I succeed, I will harvest again this campaign”.

Damages that Ian left to Sanjuanero tobacco.

According to statements to the press by Yosvany López González, head of the post of the Tabacuba analysis directorate in San Juan y Martínez, until this Wednesday, 151 of the 155 deposits used by the company to store the tobacco that it collects from the producer had been reported. as total landslides.

Of the 27 chosen, including the stemming process, there are 15 completely destroyed, two partially and seven with damaged roofs. “Until the 20th of this month, 4,110.38 tons of tobacco had been collected. Another 157.87 t were in the hands of the 67 producers and the current state of that harvest is not exactly known,” explained the manager.

In total, there are 5,680.69 tons in the Tabacuba warehouses in the territory, which includes the collection of this year, last campaign, in the production process and the finished one, in addition to 151.80 tons that belong to the Rama Company.

The 38 controlled healing houses are on the ground, and of the 28 healing chambers, one half collapsed completely and the other partially. Also, the five fermentation chambers that are used to improve dry tobacco have problems with roofing after the passage of lan.

Of the 1,792 priest houses that belong to the producing peasants, 1,739 collapsed. On the other hand, the 8,400 stonecutters in the territory were lost.

López González said that he was oriented, at first, to rescue the tobacco that was in those damaged structures. “You have to cover what is possible and move the tobacco that works there,” he concluded.

These were comments made by the Second Secretary of the Party Central Committee, José Ramón Machado Ventura, during a tour of productive areas in several municipalities of Pinar del Río.

Machado, also a vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, warned that more important than increasing productive areas, is to raise agricultural yields. We have to use the land well, and make the most of it, he said.

The visit included plantations of tobacco and various other crops, where the leader was able to appreciate the use of modern technologies that allow greater efficiency and energy carrier savings.

Among them, the new Virginia tobacco curing chambers, located in Julián Alemán Basic Unit of Cooperative Production (UBPC), in the municipality of Consolación del Sur, which work with renewable energy sources.

Machado inquired as to the useful life of equipment and facilities that can run on rice straw, sawdust, or firewood, and thus considerably reduce the use of fuel, something that up to now has made production significantly more expensive.

He also exchanged with agricultural workers of the UBPC on the importance of systematically employing science and technology, and of creating the conditions to be able to fulfill productive commitments, independently of the behavior of the climate.

We will have moments in which it will rain a lot and others in which there will be drought, but the plans must be guaranteed, he stressed.

The tour also included areas of the Los Palacios Agro-Industrial Grains Enterprise, in which Machado witnessed the leveling of rice fields using laser and GPS technology, and the progress of this crop in one of the main cultivation areas in the country.

Another site visited was a former citrus processing plant, belonging to the Enrique Troncoso Agro-Industrial Enterprise, where Machado inquired about the alternatives to take advantage of this facility in other areas such as tomato and mango processing, in order to be able to respond to the growth of these crops in the province.

(Granma)

The closing ceremony is scheduled tonight to the early hours of Saturday (at the Pabexpo fair grounds) where the Habano Prizes of the Year (corresponding to 2017) in the categories of Production, Business and Communication will be granted.

These awards are compared with the Oscar cinema prizes, but on the cigar industry, and they are conferred to persons who promote and foster the habano industry as well as their marketing. On the other hand, the funds of the humidors and cigar auctioned each year go to funding the national health system, particularly cancer research and treatment.

After a week of surprises and emotions, visits to factories and plantations, besides the exchange of impressions and experiences at workshops, and drinks tasting, the Festival comes to an end successfully, organizers assure.

Smokers of Premium cigars from all over the world again turned their eyes to the Cohiba Brand, that together with Partagas reigned over the 20th Festival, from February 26 to March 2, at the Havana Convention Center.

This event is a superlative attraction for those who have any relation at all with this sector and, above all for lovers of the highest quality cigars the world over.

In the closing gala will stand out from Cohiba, the Robustos Harvest 2014, its most Premium proposal, besides the Maduro Line of Partagas, another star of the event.

(Prensa Latina)

The document confirms what has been a trend in the country’s morbidity and mortality rates for years, with the list of the leading ten causes of death topped by heart diseases, with a rate of 217.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, followed closely by malignant tumors, with a rate of 216.3. “Both causes account for 49.1% of all deaths in 2016.”

In addition, the 2016 Health Statistics Yearbook reveals that the mortality rate due to cerebrovascular diseases has increased, together with the potential years of life lost to these diseases, while its mortality rates according to sex have equalized. Meanwhile, excess mortality was reported for females due to diabetes mellitus.

Heart diseases top the list of the leading ten causes of death in Cuba. Photo: Juvenal Balán
The report warns: “66.0% of deaths due to heart disease occur due to ischemic diseases, of which 44.4% are due to acute myocardial infarction. Female excess mortality is reported, due to heart failure and chronic rheumatic heart disease.”

With regard to cancer, the document notes that the highest cancer death rates are due to malignant trachea, bronchus and lung tumors, followed by malignant tumors of the intestine, except the rectum, and other tumors of the lymphatic tissue and hematopoietic organs.

For both men and women “the highest mortality rate corresponds to malignant tumors of the trachea, bronchi and lung; for men, these are followed by malignant tumors of the prostate, the intestine, except the rectum, the larynx and the urinary tract; and for women, the breast, intestine, except the rectum, and tumors in other parts of the uterus, and those not specified, all with rates in excess of 11 per 100,000 inhabitants.”

According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases will not only be the leading causes of disability worldwide by 2020, but will also become the most costly problem facing health systems.

The statistics cited show that Cuba is not exempt from this context, thus insisting on prevention, that the population assumes healthy lifestyles, and increasingly implementing health policies aimed at reducing these risk factors is essential.

Tobacco, for example, is the single most preventable cause of death in the world and a relevant element in chronic non-communicable diseases. However, although the overall prevalence of smoking in our country has declined, in certain age groups such as adolescents aged between 13 and 15, tobacco use has increased, according to the results of the 2010 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

In addition, statistics show that more than half of all Cuban families are exposed to cigarette smoke: 54% of Cuban families, 65% of children, 51% of pregnant women and 60% of adolescents are exposed to this pollutant.

(Granma)

Over five intense days, around 2,000 participants from some 50 countries, as well as more than 180 national and international journalists, discovered and delighted in the best tobacco in the world, the product of a centuries-long tradition on the island. Attendees had the exclusive opportunity to enjoy new vitolas being presented this 2017 by Habanos S.A, sponsor of the Festival together with the Tabacuba Enterprise Group.

KEY RESULTS OF HABANOS S.A

During an encounter with the press at the Havana International Convention Center, the company’s marketing director, Enrique Babot Espinosa, noted that this is a positive time for Habanos S.A, which saw sales of some 445 million dollars last year, representing a 5% increase as compared to 2015. “This shows that despite the difficult international scenario, Habanos S.A. maintains its position as a leading cigar brand.”

The representative emphasized that the company’s premium cigars occupy around 70% of the global market share in units and 80% in regards to revenue (excluding the United States, to which the entity does not have access given the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba).

In this regard, Javier Terrés Ercilla, vice president of Development, stated that the company is very pleased with results obtained last year.

“We must put the 5% sales increase in context, given that the international luxury goods industry only saw slight growth over the same period, which says a lot about the strengthen of our products, such as Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, Hoyo de Monterrey, H. Upmann, and Romeo y Julieta, among others, which represent a great asset in our hands. Given this reality we feel reasonably optimistic about the future and impending challenges.”

France, China, Germany, Cuba, and Switzerland represent Habanos S.A’s most important markets; making up 50% of the company’s total sales. Photo: Ismael Batista
Terrés Ercilla went on to note that the entity’s most important markets include Spain, France, China, Germany, Cuba, and Switzerland in that order. “These countries make up over 50% of the company’s entire sales, highlighting that the tourist boom in Cuba, which received over four million international visitors last year, has impacted sales increases in this sphere on the island in 2016.”

Meanwhile, the associated Trade Fair occupied a special place in this year’s event, representing a unique moment and the ideal occasion for technical and commercial exchanges between businesspeople, producers, artisans, artists, and suppliers linked to the world of Cuban cigar products.

Rodrigo Malmierca, the island’s minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, and Justo Luis Fuentes, President of the Tabacuba Enterprise Group, had the honor of inaugurating the Fair, which also took place in the Havana Convention Center, and according to the Cuban minister, had “one of the highest participation rates of the 19 editions held to date.”

In this sense he thanked exhibitors from Germany, China, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, and Panama, while also highlighting the incredible response once again from Cuban exhibitors, with 48 entities presenting a wide range of offers across diverse spheres such as crafts, cultural and musical production, fashion, tourism, gastronomy, and of course everything related to cigars, including collectable items and smoking accessories, such as a wide variety of innovative cases and humidors.

NEW SIR WINSTON, QUAI D’ORSAY & MONTECRISTO CIGARS PRESENTED

Not even the rain could dampen the enthusiasm of guests attending the Welcome Evening at the beautiful and historic Club Habana, founded in 1928 on the shore of Havana’s western coastline, and located near to the Marina Hemingway and neighborhood of Jaimanitas.

The great attraction of the night was undoubtedly the H. Upmann‘s Gran Reserva Cosecha 2011 in its Sir Winston vitola (47 x 178mm).

Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuban minister of Foreign Trade and Investment (right), and Justo Luis Fuentes, President of the Tabacuba Enterprise Group (left), inaugurated the Festival’s Trade Fair in the Havana International Convention Center. Also pictured: Luis Sánchez-Harguindey, Co-President of Habanos S.A. Photo: Ismael Batista
The best filler, binder, and wrapper leaves from the 2011 harvests in the Vueltabajo region of Pinar del Río province were selected to create this cigar, which underwent a lengthy and meticulous five-year aging process.

This is the brand’s first Gran Reserva line, presented in a one-time launch featuring 5,000 exclusive boxes each containing 20 cigars.

The brand’s flagships collection which was preceded by its first Reserve line, launched in 2014, in the vitola Upmann No. 2, made with carefully selected leaves from the 2010 harvest.

Meanwhile the Quai D’Orsay Tribute Night took place in the Main Hall of the Laguito cigar factory, located in the neighborhood of Miramar, during which the brand’s new design was presented alongside two novel vitolas: The Quai D’Orsay No. 50 (50 x 110mm) and No. 54 (54 x 135mm), available in units of 10 and 25 cigars which, in addition to the Coronas Claro vitola (42 x 142mm) make for an attractive portfolio of products, which will be available to purchase worldwide in 2017.

All Quai D’Orsay cigars are made entirely by hand, with the long filler leaves grown in Pinar del Rio’s Vueltabajo region.

In regards to the brand’s new look, the cigar band maintains its original geometric design, but is now bigger and better quality, featuring different gold tones, reliefs, and wefts. The global launch of the line will give smokers across the world the chance to discover and enjoy this special cigar, which contains all the flavor, character, and intensity which makes Cuban tobacco the best in the world.

This gem within Habanos S.A.’s portfolio, was created exclusively in 1973 by Cubatabaco for the French market, at the request of SEITA, the European nation’s former state-owned tobacco company, whose name refers to the famous port in Paris, where the facility was once based.

Meanwhile, taking place at the capital’s PABEXPO fairgrounds was the Gala Night dedicated to the Montecristo brand, which launched its newest and most exclusive 1935 Line, featuring original vitolas from the Leyenda (55 x 165mm), Dumas (49 x 130mm) and Maltés (53 x 153mm) collections.

All the cigars are hand rolled with long filler leaves and completed with the finest wrapper and binder leaves selected from the best tobacco farms in Vueltabajo; renowned for their strong flavor, which complements the medium to strong taste of the Clásica and Edmundo lines, and medium-flavor Open collection.

These three cigars are the result of concerted efforts between Habanos S.A, Tabacuba, monitored by their respective quality departments, and the most experienced cigar masters.

Montecristo is perhaps the most well known and appreciated of Habanos S.A.’s brands. The variety takes its name from the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, by celebrated French author and playwright Alejandro Dumas (1802-1870), and was founded in 1935 in the H. Upmann factory in Havana.

Meanwhile, other products presented during the Festival included Romeo y Julieta Petit Royales (47x95mm), as well as 2017 Limited Editions: Cohiba Talismán, Partagás Serie No. 1 and Punch Regios de Punch, the latter a medium strength, shorter cigar with a new thickness, among others.

In addition, this 19th Habano Festival upheld the annual challenge of offering the best combinations of cigars (Protected Denomination of Origin) and most exclusive beverages in the world, during which the prestigious Brandy de Jerez presented four of its most appreciated brandies: the Lepanto Solera Gran Reserva (González Byass), Cardenal Mendoza Carta Real (Bodegas Sánchez Romate), Fundador Exclusivo (Bodegas Fundador) and Carlos I Imperial (Bodegas Osborne), which were paired with Trinidad Vigía and Partagás Serie D No. 4, two habanos popular among consumers.
Other highlights of the festival included the eagerly-awaited tour of tobacco farms in the San Juan y Martínez region of Pinar del Rio, and the La Corona and H. Upmann factories in Havana, in addition to the International Habanosommelier Competition. The International Seminar and master classes also took place, featuring topics such as “H. Upmann, the connoisseurs’ brand,” “The past, present, and future of Quai D’Orsay,” “Montecristo: lines for all tastes;” “The art of combining (wrapper, binder and filler leaves),” – a workshop on the hand-rolling technique, as well as the longest ash competition.

After almost two decades, the combination of all these activities have made the Festival the ideal place to promote the planet’s best cigars, Cuban cigars.

(Granma)

In the space of just one year, Cuba’s tobacco industry saw losses of 129,595,346 USD from April 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016; the result of the harsh measure imposed on the island by the Kennedy administration and maintained by successive U.S. governments.

It’s not just about what the blockade denies this important sector of the Cuban economy, but what it restricts it from doing and accessing. The total 129,595,346 USD in losses to the island’s tobacco industry is a result of Cuba’s lack of access to the U.S. market. Understand that we are talking about the largest tobacco market in the world (that of the U.S.), located only 90 miles from the home of the best tobacco on the planet (Cuba).

Speaking to Granma, Miguel Vladimir Rodríguez González – first vice president of the Tabaco de Cuba Enterprise Group (Ta­bacuba) – noted that the blockade affects exports of Premium hand rolled cigars, valued at 119,500,000 USD, as well as machine made, for a total of 4,650,000 dollars.

Other negative affects extend to “imports of supplies, packaging materials, accessories, replacement parts and other provisions vital to the cigarette and machine made cigar industry. Currently these operations are carried out from third countries, given the impossibility of obtaining such goods from the U.S. market at a lower price, at a cost of over 3,072,500 USD,” stated Rodríguez González.

Damages related to the island’s inability to obtain replacement parts and other supplies from the U.S. market to ensure continued production, is valued at 851,400 USD.

Meanwhile, “the increased cost of shipping; transferring goods, both in regards to imports and exports, a method used to protect ships from being fined; the decision not to dock at U.S. ports after departing from Cuba, in spite of increased shipping time which raises the cost of commercial operations, has meant an addition cost of 797,700 USD,” Rodríguez González noted.

Other negative financial affects have been seen in regards to fluctuating U.S. dollar exchange rates and pressure exerted by that government on foreign banks to discourage them from processing transactions linked to Cuba, all of which have resulted in increased costs of 723,746 USD.

(Granma)

Miguel Vladimir Rodríguez González, Tabacuba first vice president, explained to the Cuban media that the company is immersed in a process of improvement and restructuring, as one of nine Central State Enterprise Management Organizations (OSDE) associated with the Ministry of Agriculture (Minag), while at the same time beginning the construction of a new factory of cigarettes in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), a project involving more than 100 million dollars, set to be operational by the end of 2018.

Rodríguez indicated that the new plant, being built with the latest technology, will have an annual production capacity of eight billion units of exportable-quality cigarettes, saying, “It is an ambitious project that we are undertaking with our commercial associate, the Souza Cruz company, an affiliate of one of the planet’s largest transnationals, British American Tobacco (BAT).”

He explained that the Luyanó factory in Havana can only produce four billion units for export a year, emphasizing that the new plant will allow the Cuban tobacco industry to meet domestic demand, plus that of tourists visiting the island and the export market.

Exports through May of this year had reached a value of 86.4 million USD. Photo: Yaimí Ravelo
The Lázaro Peña factory in the eastern province of Holguín will also launch an ambitious investment project this year, Rodríguez reported, to expand and modernize its production for the domestic market, and make adjustments to meet international standards.

“One of the state enterprise group’s objectives,” he said, “is precisely to standardize all of our products, and ensure that they are of exportable quality, or approach international norms.”

Another important project involves the construction of a mechanized cigar factory for national consumption, in the eastern province of Granma, he reported, “By the end of the year, the first machines will arrive in the country, and the erection of the industrial plant will begin.”

Rodríguez likewise described plans to expand and modernize the only mechanized cigar factory in the country, that of the joint enterprise Internacional Cubana de Tabacos, S.A., formed by Tabacuba and the Imperial Tobacco Group (ITG), the world’s fourth largest tobacco company.

Some 24.5 million stakes of tobacco leaves were produced last year. Photo: Jose M. Correa
With this step, he said, the company is preparing for an eventual incursion into the U.S. market, when the unjust restrictions of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba are ended, and trade between the two countries is again allowed.

Rodríguez commented, “The 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) considered the Economic and Social Development Plan through 2030. The strategic lines (of this plan) are in the popular consultation phase through the beginning of next year, and parallel to this, our Enterprise Group is moving forward with a development program for the tobacco industry, covering the period through 2020, which will require an updating based on directives emerging from the PCC Congress.”

The Tabacuba executive said that the enterprise is obliged to prepare, because the situation has changed with the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States.

He emphasized that the U.S. is the world’s main market for tobacco products, consuming “more than 300 million hand-rolled cigars, and nine billion machine-made cigars, It is an important market for any country producing tobacco. It is a challenge to enter this market, and the enterprise group is obliged to include it in our strategic projections, and to take the particularities of the U.S. market into consideration, in the event that trade with this country is freed up.”

THE 2015-2016 TOBACCO HARVEST

Meanwhile, amidst this important process, the 2015-2015 tobacco cultivation season, which began in October, is drawing to a close. Periods of inclement weather have had an impact – first severe drought, followed by unseasonably heavy rain – with sowing extended through May 30.

“This is the first time we have faced a situation like this, and given these issues, Tabacuba and its enterprise system adopted timely measures to prepare for the dangers of drought, heavy rain, and high temperatures, which led to the appearance of pests and diseases,” Rodríguez explained

“Training of managers, technicians, and producers; their determination to move ahead with the agricultural campaign under adverse conditions; the introduction of new varieties; and the timely delivery of inputs were decisive, as well as support provided by the Ministry’s Soils and Plant Health leadership, the national insurance enterprise, and the country’s banking system.

“Of the 25,582 hectares of tobacco to be planted according to plans, 30,033 were done, a 117% fulfillment. That doesn’t mean we are satisfied with what was achieved, but we managed to save the tobacco harvest in a very difficult year, in terms of climate,” he said.

Of the 34 million stakes of tobacco planned (a smooth, unfinished wood plank on which the tobacco leaves are placed after they have been strung for aging) farmers harvested 24.5 million. Plans projected reaching 25 million, no doubt affected by the loss of more than 4,000 hectares of plantings, given the aforementioned problems.

By comparison, during the 2014-2015 season, 23,798 hectares of tobacco were planted, yielding a harvest of 24,300 tons, that is 1.02 tons per hectare (t/ha).

For next season (2016-2017), which began April 1, projected are 28,010 hectares to be planted, with 95% of this already under contract with producers, looking to harvest 29,911 tons of tobacco, based on productivity of 1.07 tons per hectare.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The Tabacuba enterprise group includes 40 state enterprises, three joint ventures with foreign capital (Habanos S.A., Internacional Cubana de Tabacos S.A. & Brascuba Cigarrillos S.A.), one entirely Cuban trading company, and a research institute with three field stations.

The organization employs some 40,000 workers, and annually involves some 200,000 in other state enterprises; Basic Units of Cooperative Production (UBPC); Agricultural Production Cooperatives (CPS); Credit and Services Cooperatives (CCS); and families of producers.

Cuba’s tobacco industry currently produces almost 300 million hand-rolled cigars, of which some 100 million are destined for export, plus about 130 million machine made cigars, 90% for export, as well as some 15 billion cigarettes.

Exports through May of this year had reached a value of 86.4 million USD, surpassing plans for this period of approximately 65.7 million, a 131.4% performance.

(Granma)

Since this point of departure in Cuba, more than 500 years ago, tobacco has been traded and planted across the entire planet.

Yet Cuban black tobacco is still considered the world’s best, given the unique conditions certain parts of the island provide for its cultivation, a distinction which remains unquestioned five hundred years later.

The essence of the difference lies in the tobacco’s taste, based on the combination of four factors, present only on the island: soil, climate, the Cuban black variety, and the know-how of the country’s tobacco farmers and cigar makers.

While in other places certain abilities, and even Cuban seeds, may have been acquired, the nature of the country’s soil and climate cannot be duplicated. These are gifts not to be found elsewhere. Nor can Cuba’s knowledge and culture of tobacco, created over centuries, be equaled.

Tobacco farmers do an extraordinary job cultivating this crop. Years of applied wisdom and patience must transpire before a leaf is ready to be used to craft an expensive Habano cigar.

To address the current winter planting season, and other aspects of the industry, of particular importance to the country’s economy and identity, Granma International interviewed the highly knowledgeable Miguel Vladimir Rodríguez González, first vice president of the tobacco state enterprise Tabacuba.

Beginning last year and thus far in 2016, the island has experienced an unusual weather pattern, with drought, heavy rainfall, unseasonably high and low temperatures, due to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon, causing Cuban agriculture a veritable headache.

How is the winter planting season going? Has the unusual weather had an impact?

The campaign started well, despite the weather and climate changes that are dealing us a bad hand, not just in tobacco, but for all crops. Planting began last October 10, and to date we have been able to plant the projected hectares. More than 25,000 hectares have been contracted and planted throughout the country.

We started first with lots of drought, and now lots of rain, but we have learned to live with these changes. We have no alternative, and our producers have taken it this way, with a great deal of sacrifice.

We have increased training for producers and strengthened bodies that address irrigation, acquiring and installing more irrigation systems, which are also more efficient; relocating plantings to drier areas; undertaking construction and maintenance of water supplies, irrigation canals, wells; and everything we can do to mitigate these negative effects.

Have material supplies been available?

All plant health products and fertilizers have been assigned in a timely fashion, allowing a good planting season to progress. Many resources have likewise been directed to supplying spare parts for producers’ agricultural equipment. So, except for the weather, we believe that all the conditions are in place for a good tobacco campaign.

Is tobacco planted throughout the entire country? Which province is the largest producer?

Today, we plant tobacco in all of the country’s provinces, except for the capital, and of course, the largest in terms of area cultivated and production continues to be Pinar del Río, with more than 16,000 hectares, contributing almost 70% of the nation’s tobacco production.

It is very difficult to evaluate what region is doing better, since our entire enterprise system and the productive base throughout the country have been acquiring experience in the development of tobacco cultivation. We are having very good results in regions where, until a few years ago, there was little or no experience. I am not going to mention names to avoid hurt feelings.

What importance does the application of science and technology have in this sector?

I don’t think there is any activity in the world today which can survive and develop without the application of research results, and the introduction of new technology.

The enterprise has access to the Research Institute located in San Antonio de los Baños, in the province of Artemisa, with a lot of experience, created in 1964, and other experimental stations in Pinar del Rio, established in 1937, and another two in the center of the country – one of them in Cabaigüan, was inaugurated in 1940,and the other in Manicaragua, in the province of Villa Clara; as well as the Technology Dissemination Group in the province of Granma, which began operating in 2003, to provide technical assistance in the country’s eastern region, where tobacco production has also developed over the last several years, with very good results.

As you can see, we have accumulated a lot of experience in scientific research linked to the development of the Cuban tobacco industry, from agriculture to the industry.

The principal objective of the Institute, and all the associated centers, is to put science and technological innovation at the service of the Cuban tobacco industry.

One of its principal activities is related to the introduction of new varieties of tobacco, with greater disease resistance and yields, and confronting pests and disease that affect the cultivation of tobacco in Cuba and around the world.

What is Tabacuba?

The Cuban Tobacco Enterprise Group, Tabacuba, was created in July of 2000, and is subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture, as the only economic organization in the country which comprehensively directs tobacco activity in all phases of its production chain, from agriculture to sales on the international market, and within the Cuban environment.

Its current mission is to continually increase the tobacco sector’s contribution to the national economy, with participation in the world market for tobacco and its products, maintaining the Habano’s leadership position, through efficient, competitive, sustainable work.

The Group’s (state) enterprise system is composed of 45 companies, of which 15 are agricultural, six agro-industrial, nine producers of hand rolled and premium cigars, four cigarette manufacturers, and six working in services or sales. Additionally associated with Tabacuba are three joint enterprises, one mercantile consortium, and a research Institute with three stations.

The Group directs a total of 96 hand rolled cigar factories – 46 of these devoted exclusively to cigars for export, one to machine fabricated cigars for export and the domestic market, and four for exclusively national consumption.

We likewise have more than 250 selection centers, more than 50 tobacco processors, and more than 60 de-veining sites (where half of the central vein is removed from leaves reserved for the filling, a fourth of the vein for those to be used as binders, while the entire vein is removed from those chosen as wrappers, making two bands.) Altogether, the Group is very broad, diverse and complex given the multiple activities involved in cigar production.

In the purely agricultural part, some 600 production sites participate, of these there are some 20 state enterprises and the rest are cooperatives or private properties, in which about 200,000 people are involved during every season.

At this time, the Group is being perfected and becoming a Superior Organization of Direction, with greater authority in the enterprise sector, as part of the implementation of the Communist Party of Cuba’s policy approved at its Sixth Congress, which will put us in better conditions to develop the Cuban tobacco industry in tune with current times.

What are the principal results and prospects for the industry?

Our industry today produces almost 300 million hand rolled cigars, of which 100 million are destined for export, and the rest for domestic consumption. We additionally produce some 130 million machine-made cigars, almost 90% for export, and some 15,000 cigarettes.

The Cuban tobacco industry has many opportunities for expansion, and I could highlight the project being undertaken in the Mariel Special Development Zone to construct a new cigarette factory with our Brazilian commercial associate Souza Cruz, which will begin operations and start-up in 2018, with an annual production capacity of some eight billion units.

Our cigarette factory in Holguín, the country’s most modern, also has an ambitious investment plan to expand and modernize its products. This is a challenge for the Group, since we intend to align standards of quality and presentation of products meant for national consumption with those existent today around the world.

Likewise, at the approval stage is a program to broaden and modernize our only machine-made cigar factory, a business which we first undertook with the Spanish company Altadis, 15 years ago, and then with a British partner, the Imperial Tobacco Group.

In your opinion, what does tobacco represent for our country?

Tobacco is part of our culture and our national identity. Historians say that when Spanish colonizers arrived to our lands, native inhabitants already enjoyed the pleasure of smoking a good cigar, associated with their religious rites and ceremonies.

Then, with colonization, the Spanish took tobacco to Europe, and there began the story of its universalization, which continues today. Much has happened since then, but there is no doubt that Cuban tobacco continues to be recognized by the most demanding smokers as the world’s best tobacco.

I believe that 500 years of history have a significant impact within the culture of a people, and Cuban tobacco continues to be one of our most emblematic products in the international market. So we will continue to devote ourselves to the development of the tobacco industry, and confront all the challenges we face with the opening of new markets from which we have been absent for many years, for no fault of our own. For one who understands, these few words are sufficient – right?

A GLOBAL PRODUCT OF THE AMERICAS

Tobacco arrived in Europe during the 16th century. In 1510 Francisco Hernández de Toledo brought the plant to Spain and 50 years later diplomat Jean Nicot introduced it to France, a figure immortalized by the term nicotine, the name given to the active ingredient in tobacco, first isolated from the plant’s leaves in 1828. In 1585 privateer Sir Francis Drake brought tobacco to England, where British explorer Sir Walter Raleigh later introduced the custom of smoking dried, crushed leaves in a pipe to the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The product quickly spread across Europe and Russia and in the 17th century arrived in China, Japan and on the west coast of Africa.

Although tobacco is grown in 120 countries of varying climates, the most popular products are produced from certain specialist tobacco growing regions. (Ecured)

• TOBACCO PRODUCING REGIONS IN CUBA

Vuelta Abajo (in Cuba’s western province of Pinar del Río): The best place in the world to grow tobacco and the principle source of leaves used to produce Habanos. It is also the only region which produces all varieties of leaf. But even here, only a small area, less than a quarter of the entire region, possesses the distinction Vegas Finas de Primera, a title required to produce the tobacco for Habanos.

San Luis: A small town located in the heart of Cuba’s tobacco growing region, renowned for producing wrapper leaves (used for the outer wrapping of cigars). The town is home to several famous farms including El Corojo and Cuchillas de Barbacoa, owned by the famous Robaina family.

San Juan y Martínez: Another small town which enjoys a reputation for growing the filler and binder leaves for Habanos and is home to the famous Hoyo de Monterrey estate.

Semi Vuelta: A zone located in Cuba’s western region, known above all for producing binder and filler leaves used to make Habanos. However, the cultivation area is very small, barely 1% of Semi Vuelta’s entire production zone. Soil in the area is also good for seed beds. The majority of tobacco produced in Semi Vuelta is used for other purposes

Partido: A historic group of production zones located southeast of Havana which were founded at the beginning of the 17th century. The Partido zone is renowned for producing wrapper leaves.

Vuelta Arriba: A region located to the east of the island, spread across two very different production zones:

Remedios: The largest and oldest tobacco growing zone in Cuba, and source of all varieties of leaf used in José L. Piedra cigars. The area enjoys unique soil and climate conditions; however cultivation practices are the same as those used across the country’s other tobacco producing zones.

Oriente: It was in Bariay, in the eastern most part of this region, where the Spanish first landed in Cuba. Tobacco is still grown here, although not to produce Habanos. (Ecured)

JOINT VENTURES AFFILIATED WITH THE TABACUBA BUSINESS GROUP:

-Internacional Cubana de Tabacos S.A. (ICT): Operating in partnership with Imperial Tobacco Group, the world’s fourth largest international tobacco company. ICT was founded on February 23, 2001 and is responsible for the manufacture and marketing of all 100% hand made Cuban cigars.

-Brascuba Cigarrillos S.A.: A company composed of Souza Cruz S.A, leader in the Brazilian cigarette market and member of British American Tobacco (BAT), and Tabacuba, affiliated with the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture. Brascuba Cigarrillos S.A was created on April 5, 1995 and manufactures and markets cigarettes sold in CUC in the domestic market and for export.

-Habanos S.A.: A 50-50 partnership between the Cuban state (Cubatabaco) and British Imperial Tobacco Group. The entity markets hand rolled premium cigars in CUC for export and the domestic market, and has a distribution network across five continents.

- Cubatabaco: The company functions as a recruitment entity and is responsible for managing Habanos S.A. tobacco brands and trademarks.

-Tabagest S.A.: A 100% Cuban owned company, responsible for investing in tobacco companies and businesses, both in Cuba and abroad, as well as the management and organization of a variety of cigar entities.

(Granma)

The Cuban most famous tobacco Premium type brand will take its cigars to the 2011 Limited Edition, with interesting proposals for collectors and the most demanding cigar smokers in the world.

The note by Cuban Corporacion Habanos SA said this means a lot, because the Limited Editions are highly appreciated because of their high quality, since its cigars do not habitually appear in the brand portfolio.

Precisely, the announcement includes so-called Cohiba 1966, a cigar with a 52-milimeter diameter and a 166-milimeter length as part of the commemoration because of the 45 years of existence of the brand.

The Limited Editions bring a maturing of at least two years, coming from Pinar del Rio, west of Cuba.

Cohiba 1966 is a cigar with a presentation in a Cajon BN box, containing 10 units each.

Habano cigars will be included in the edition of the Tax Free World Association Exhibition in Cannes, France, together with nearly 500 companies from the entire world.

The meeting is scheduled to be held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congress (Festival and Congress Palace) in Cannes to be started on September 19, a compulsory calendar for the companies taking part in the Duty Free system.

These products have the relevance of being linked with airline operators, cruisers and airports.

The official Habanos SA note added Cuban cigars will be present in this prestigious event, with emblematic proposals.

Included in the list, there are new Partagas Serie E Number 2, Series D Number 5, H Upmann Half Corona, and H Upmann Royal Robusto.

Other brands belonging to the 2011 Limited Edition are: Short Hoyo Pirámides de Hoyo de Monterrey y Allones Extra by tobacco twister Ramón Allones, together to new special series Montecristo Number 2 Gran Reserva 2005.

(Prensa Latina)