A worker checks the quality of cigars in the Joya de Nicaragua factory, the oldest tobacco company in the country, January 24, 2024 (AFP/Oswaldo RIVAS)
Consumed in 90 countries around the world, Nicaraguan cigars have gained respectability and market share. The volcanic soils on which the Central American country’s tobacco is grown give it a special character, according to merchants and consumers at the 11th Nicaraguan Cigar Festival.
Nicaraguan tobaccos “have a very good body, are round, sweet, some spicy”, tells AFP the Colombian Andres Diaz Cote, a 57-year-old cigar lover, in the aisles of the fair organized in Esteli, in some 150 kilometers north of the capital Managua. According to him, “the way (the leaves) burn is perfect.”
A worker in the tobacco fields of the Tavicusa farm in Esteli, Nicaragua, January 24, 2024 (AFP/Oswaldo RIVAS)
Nicaragua’s tobacco industry emerged in the 1960s from the hands of Cuban migrants who fled after the 1959 revolution. Around Esteli, they found volcanic soils rich in minerals and nutrients and a tropical climate perfect for tobacco plants.
About 150 companies in the Esteli area operate in tobacco growing, processing, cigar manufacturing and packaging, says Juan Ignacio Martinez, president of Joya de Nicaragua, the country’s oldest tobacco company.
A worker rolls cigars in the Joya de Nicaragua factory, the oldest tobacco company in the country, January 24, 2024 (AFP/Oswaldo RIVAS)
Today, Nicaraguan cigars are consumed in more than 90 countries around the world, most exported to the United States where they are not subject to sanctions against the regime of President Daniel Ortega.
Cuban cigars, considered the best in the world, do not have access to the North American market, the largest in the world for cigars, due to the embargo imposed by Washington on the communist island since 1962.
In 2022, Cuba generated $545 million in revenue from its markets in Europe (54%), Asia (19%), Latin America (15%), and Africa and the Middle East (12%).
A worker rolls cigars in the Joya de Nicaragua factory, the oldest tobacco company in the country, January 24, 2024 (AFP/Oswaldo RIVAS)
A preference not shared by American businessman Rocky Patel, who also produces cigars in Honduras and the Dominican Republic: “I think the best cigars in the world currently come from Nicaragua. People love Nicaraguan cigars”, he told AFP.
– “To satisfy the client” –
With the Covid-19 pandemic, Nicaraguan tobacco manufacturers feared a drop in activity, but the opposite happened.
A worker prepares tobacco leaves for drying at the Tavicusa tobacco farm in Esteli, Nicaragua, January 24, 2024 (AFP/Oswaldo RIVAS)
With movement restrictions around the world, people have taken to smoking at home rather than in cigar bars, which has boosted sales.
“Starting in 2019, we had a strong demand for tobacco… and that greatly benefited the industry and Nicaragua as a country,” Manuel Rubio, president of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce, told AFP. tobacco.
“Last year we had good results with around 180 million cigars exported for around $400 million,” he added. “We are forecasting growth of around 10 to 15% this year.”
The cigar industry generates 35,000 direct jobs in the Esteli department alone, out of a total of around 65,000 nationwide.
Workers prepare tobacco leaves for cigar production at the Tavicusa tobacco company in Esteli, Nicaragua January 24, 2024 (AFP/Oswaldo RIVAS)
Aristo Torres, 56, is a “torcedor” (cigar roller). He explains with patience and undisguised pride the making of the “bonchero”, the mixture of leaves that goes into the composition of each cigar.
The important thing, according to him, is to “satisfy the customer”, and for this “we must continue to learn every day, experiment”, he emphasizes.
© 2024 AFP
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