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INDUSTRY UNITING AT NATO EXPO |
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 Light attendance but steady buying reported on show floor
Las Vegas, Nevada, March 31 – Amid increasing concern over regulation of tobacco at the local, state and federal levels, senior executives and board members of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) and the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (RTDA) had positive discussions over their shared concerns here in Las Vegas this week.
NATO’s membership is primarily in the convenience store and mass-market channels while the RTDA consists mostly of individual smokeshop operators specializing in premium cigars. At one time, the NATO Expo – in its prior configurations – was seen as a rival to the RTDA’s mammoth annual trade show, but the two groups see more value today in working together to solve increasing frustration with various anti-tobacco regulations and statutes.
Of considerable concern right now is the confusion caused by some credit-card processing companies who are refusing to accept charges for any tobacco products, even though only cigarette-purchase charges are banned by the recent agreement between state Attorneys General, credit-card companies and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives and Firearms.
Moreover, reports were circulating that other retailers were receiving notices from check-clearing companies that sellers of tobacco products would not be eligible for their services, either.
Against this disconcerting backdrop, attendance on the show floor was lighter than at last year’s Expo. Of the cigar manufacturers and distributors present, the most interest was shown at the Cusano Cigars booth and at the long J.C. Newman Cigar Company booth. However, exhibitors also reported more buying interest from those who did come.
Highlights from the floor:
• Indian Tabac reported that their value line called “The Edge” has become one of its strongest sellers at retail. Offered without bands in trays of 100 and featuring either a dark Corojo wrapper or nearly black maduro wrapper, its powerful flavor and $5 retail price for a 6-inch by 52-ring toro or torpedo has been a hit with smokers and has been outselling Indian’s other popular brands like the Rocky Patel Vintage 1990/92 and the Indian Tabac Sun Grown.
• Puros Indios is repackaging the Cuba Aliados brand after regaining distribution rights last year. It will have a new band and a refreshed blend, possibly featuring a Corojo wrapper, to be shown in midyear. The goal is to reflect the original Aliados blend when the brand was made in Cuba.
• Two of the top companies in premium cigars, J.C. Newman and S.A.G. Imports are reporting phenomenal sales of two of their newer introductions.
Newman’s Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino Sungrown line – introduced in 2003 – is now so popular, it’s actually reviving sales in some stores of the rest of the Cuesta-Rey brand. It’s no surprise, as we ranked the Centro Fino as the best of the line and ranked it among the top 20 medium-bodied cigars available in the United States.
S.A.G. is the U.S. distribution arm of the famed MATASA factory in the Dominican Republic, famous for its Fonseca line. Although it’s still the top seller overall, their big winner at the retail level is the powerful Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970. Some retailers have reported it outselling Fonseca – a generally milder blend – by as much as five-to-one in-store. The Antaño blend was one of the big hits of the 2002 RTDA show and continuing to grow in popularity among the motor-oil-for-breakfast crowd.
• Naturally, there were new cigars introduced, mostly on the value end of the spectrum. At the NATO Expo, one new brand which was getting some attention – and more than a few laughs – was “Cheap Bastard.”
Brand owner Shawn Brawner came up with the name after remembering some of his customers at the Olde Towne Smoke Shoppe in Temecula, California, who burst in and said “I just need a cheap cigar.”
Brawner would then retort – with a smile – “So you’re a cheap bastard, eh?” The response was almost always yes.
So, he created the brand with a logo that depicts a man wearing pants with a hole in one knee and an undershirt that doesn’t quite fit, holding his empty pockets turned inside out. The cigars retail for under $2 and are offered in four sizes: Churchill (6 3/4 x 50), Robusto (5 x 50), Gordo (5 1/2 x 62) and Belicoso, a 6-inch by 52-ring torpedo. Made in Santiago, Dominican Republic, all feature a genuine Connecticut-grown wrapper and Dominican-grown binder and filler.
“We even pre-punched all of the shapes, except the Belicoso, so the guys who are so cheap they won’t buy a $1 cutter can smoke these” said Brawner.
• Just as enticing – but in a different way – was Alliance Cigar’s new specialty band, “Semper Fi” saluting the United States Marine Corps. Made by Caribe Imported Cigars, the box and band feature a representation of the Marine Corps logo and will be offered in four sizes, all to retail for $4 or less. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Semper Fi will be donated to Marines-related charities, a worthy cause for a worthy cigar.
~ Rich Perelman
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