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Tip of the Week
Q: I've heard that Costa Rica doesn't grow tobacco. But I have noticed a few brands with Costa Rica listed as a filler tobacco. Can you explain?
A: A small amount of tobacco is grown in Costa Rica, but nowhere near as much as in Honduras or Nicaragua.
Costa Rica is not an ideal place to grow tobacco for a number of reasons, but some areas, such as the southern regions of San Ysidro and Puriscal, have been producing a small amount, mostly filler- and binder-quality, for more than 20 years. Because the industry is small, Costa Rican tobacco has never attracted much attention.
Why hasn't the tobacco industry there grown? First, the climate. Unlike its neighbors, Nicaragua and Honduras, Costa Rica receives too much rainfall for tobacco to thrive. Second, the government. The Costa Rican government has never taken the view that tobacco has much economic potential, and therefore hasn't encouraged its development as an industry. Third, because the cost of labor is high, it doesn't make sense to grow and produce tobacco when you can buy it elsewhere for less.
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