An Interview with Tropical Tobacco's Pedro Martín

Gordon Mott
From the Print Edition:
Orlando Hernandez, Mar/Apr 99

(continued from page 23)

Martín: Yes. We will concentrate on these two or three brands. I think 1999 is going to tell a lot about our company. It may be that one of the other brands or one of the less strong cigars may do better in some country than we'd expect. So you never know. We have a lot of brands registered.

CA: Casanova is a great name, too.

Martín: And eventually we should start it. There is a lot of capacity in this new factory, but if the boom had lasted a little longer, we may have done something in Honduras or Nicaragua because of its much cheaper labor. The Dominican Republic is getting expensive. But eventually, if we do well in the rest of the world, especially in Asia, then we will have to use it to keep up with that demand. Cigar smoking is improving in the rest of the world. People are smoking more cigars, no question about it. Premium cigars, not cheap cigars.

I think a lot of people are beginning to notice that the differences between Cuban cigars and cigars [made in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras] really are not that huge, and the prices are just unbelievable. We went to Geneva to conventions and I saw the Cuban people were there. They had some people making cigars there. It was a beautiful show. But then, we had a dinner, and everybody went. I had about 30 cigars in my pockets and gave them away to people around me. Then the Cubans gave cigars to everybody, including Partagas and Romeo y Julieta. They were lousy. They were very crappy. I am Cuban and I didn't know what to say, because I don't like to talk against my country, my motherland. So, people started smoking the Cuban cigars, and then later on, some of the people I gave cigars to came around to me and pulled out my cigar, saying it was better than the Cuban. Imagine that. I don't think my cigar is going to be better than a good Cuban cigar. A good Cuban cigar is still better than my cigar, no question about it. Not just my cigar, but any cigar; a good Cuban cigar is better. But these were lousy Cuban cigars.

CA: Do you think U.S.-focused manufacturers have an opportunity to build a market for their cigars in markets that traditionally have been dominated by the Cubans?

Martín: I would say so.

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