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FESTIVAL DEL HABANO WRAPS UP

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Plus: Altadis USA creates new Edicion Limitada series

Los Angeles, March 3 – The 10th Festival del Habano wrapped up on Friday with the usual fanfare of the closing gala and the auction of one-of-a-kind humidors for the benefit of the Cuban health service.

The seven items brought a handsome cumulative price of 945,000 Euros (about $1.44 million U.S.). The star of the auction was a spectacular, free-standing, multi-drawer chest that was purchased by Altadis by its marketing director Javier Estades for 260,000 Euros (about $396,000 U.S.).

Another highlight of the evening was a special presentation made to the famed grower Alejandro Robaina, for his contribution to the industry. Also of note:

Although Cohiba overtook Montecristo for the lead in sales receipts in 2007 – 25% to 23% of the $402 million in sales for Habanos, S.A. – Montecristo remained the largest cigar by number of units sold. Although no specific unit figures were released, Montecristo cigars accounted for 19% of all sales, followed closely by Romeo y Julieta at 18% and then Cohiba at 12%.

The chief financial officer of Swedish Match, Lars Dahlgren, told Bloomberg News last week that “There’s no way you can service Europe and the U.S. if Cuban cigars became big in the U.S.,” he said. “If consumers would demand the same quality of cigars, prices would skyrocket.”

According to the story reported by Thomas Muller from Geneva, Dahlgren said that an end to the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba is “inevitable” and that the company – which holds U.S. trademarks for some of the most famous Cuban brands such as Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Partagas, Punch and Sancho Panza – has planned for the transition.

“We are prepared for this to happen sometime. The U.S. is our most important premium cigar market. If the U.S. consumer wants Cuban cigars, we will seek to share that segment of the market.”

Dahlgren predicted that when Havana cigars finally do come to the American market, consumers will think of nothing else. “The first few weeks, we wouldn’t sell a single cigar because everyone would be buying the forbidden fruit,” he said.

A German analyst suggested that Imperial Tobacco – now the owner of Altadis and through it half of the Cuban cigar distribution firm Habanos, S.A. – could see an increase amounting to additional two percent in profits if the U.S. trade ban were lifted.

Altadis U.S.A. introduces its own Edicion Limitada:
Cuba is famous for its Edicion Limitada series, introduced in 2000 and limited-edition cigars are more and more common among Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan producers.

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