Cuban cigar sales plummeted 8 pct in '09

Posted on Monday, 02.22.10
Cuban cigar sales plummeted 8 pct in '09
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer

HAVANA -- Cuban cigar sales tumbled 8 percent to $360 million in 2009
and have fallen by more than a tenth in the past two years as the demand
for luxury goods around the world has plunged.

Government-run tobacco company Habanos SA said Monday that sales were
most sluggish last year in Spain, the top market for the island's
coveted stogies, but one also ravaged by recession and rising unemployment.

A drop in international travel also hurt sales at airport duty free
shops in Cuba and elsewhere, which account for as much as 23 percent of
the company's total business, said Habanos Vice President Manuel Garcia.

"This is not what we were expecting, not what we hoped for anyway,"
Garcia said during a news conference kicking off Cuba's five-day annual
cigar festival.

Garcia said economic turmoil has decimated demand for all kinds of finer
things, from cognac to luxury convertibles to cigars. Habanos sales
slumped 3 percent in 2008, when a financial crisis sent stock and
commodities prices plummeting around the world.

"It's been a series of negative factors," Garcia said.

He would not say how many cigars Habanos sold in 2009. France, Germany
and Cuba itself are also top Habanos markets. Washington's trade embargo
against Cuba turned 48 this month and it prohibits Cuban cigars from
being sold in the U.S.

Like wine, the taste of top tobacco depends on the soil and climate in
which it is grown. Sun-drenched plantations in the humid, western
province of Pinar Del Rio, especially in its famed Vuelta Abajo fields,
have made Cuban cigars famous for centuries. The vast majority of
stogies produced on the island are hand-rolled and destined for premium
sellers.

Habanos was founded in 1994 as a joint venture between Cuba and
Madrid-based Altadis SA, part of the island's push to draw private,
foreign investment after the collapse of the Soviet Union cost it island
billions of dollars in annual subsidies and trade. Altadis has been
acquired by Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group PLC.

Habanos produces 27 premium cigar brands in 220 different sizes, some as
small as cigarettes and others nearly as big as a Chihuahua puppy.
Garcia said Habanos has 146 stores worldwide, two more than the number
of authorized dealers at the end of 2008.

The flagship Cohiba brand was created in 1966 for Fidel Castro - perhaps
the world's most famous cigar smoker - and top Cuban leaders to enjoy
personally or give as gifts to visiting foreign dignitaries. Cohibas
were authorized for sale on the open market in 1982, and Castro abruptly
gave up smoking on doctors orders three years later.

Cuban cigar sales plummeted 8 pct in '09 - Business Breaking News -
MiamiHerald.com (22 February 2010)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/22/1493889/cuban-cigar-sales-plummeted-8.html