Villazon no more...

SmokinApe · 12-26-2009, 04:38 PM

http://www.cigarcyclopedia.com/webap.../view/1617/27/

Los Angeles, December 22, 2009 – The commercial cigar industry is more than 400 years old and in that time, the process of making cigars by hand hasn’t changed much. But the business of cigars has.

The famed Villazon factory in Cofradia, Honduras – now known as Honduras American Tobacco, S.A. or “HATSA” – completed operations as a cigar manufacturing plant on December 11. This was the location where iconic brands such as El Rey del Mundo, Excalibur, Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch and many others were made for decades, but the pressure on costs forced General Cigar to make a change.

According to Dan Carr, chief operating officer of General Cigar, “To achieve greater efficiency across our business units, we have restructured our Honduran cigar operations. All of our Honduran cigar production will now take place in our facilities in Danli, while our Cofradia operation will focus solely on tobacco processing and warehousing.”

General acquired both of these facilities in transactions between 1996 and 2004. It purchased the Villazon & Co. operation in 1996, before being acquired itself by Swedish Match in 2000. A long-running dispute between U.S. Tobacco and Swedish Match over the marketing of smokeless tobacco was settled in 2004 and as part of the agreement, U.S. Tobacco’s cigar operations in Honduras – known as U.S. Cigar Sales, including the factory in Danli – were handed over to General Cigar. That factory had been set up to create and manufacture brands such as Astral, Don Tomas, Helix and others, all now part of the General stable. It will now be the home of Hoyo, Punch and the other Villazon brands.

Honduran cigar imports into the U.S. have been way down in 2009 and will likely fall behind Nicaragua to become the no. 3 exporter of cigars for the American market. For General, however, the move to convert the Cofradia plant to tobacco processing gives them flexibility for the future to reinstate manufacturing there is needed in the future.

12-26-2009, 04:38 PM	#1
SmokinApe Have My Own Room Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Jeremy Posts: 1,267 Trading: (35)	Villazon no more... http://www.cigarcyclopedia.com/webap.../view/1617/27/ Los Angeles, December 22, 2009 – The commercial cigar industry is more than 400 years old and in that time, the process of making cigars by hand hasn’t changed much. But the business of cigars has. The famed Villazon factory in Cofradia, Honduras – now known as Honduras American Tobacco, S.A. or “HATSA” – completed operations as a cigar manufacturing plant on December 11. This was the location where iconic brands such as El Rey del Mundo, Excalibur, Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch and many others were made for decades, but the pressure on costs forced General Cigar to make a change. According to Dan Carr, chief operating officer of General Cigar, “To achieve greater efficiency across our business units, we have restructured our Honduran cigar operations. All of our Honduran cigar production will now take place in our facilities in Danli, while our Cofradia operation will focus solely on tobacco processing and warehousing.” General acquired both of these facilities in transactions between 1996 and 2004. It purchased the Villazon & Co. operation in 1996, before being acquired itself by Swedish Match in 2000. A long-running dispute between U.S. Tobacco and Swedish Match over the marketing of smokeless tobacco was settled in 2004 and as part of the agreement, U.S. Tobacco’s cigar operations in Honduras – known as U.S. Cigar Sales, including the factory in Danli – were handed over to General Cigar. That factory had been set up to create and manufacture brands such as Astral, Don Tomas, Helix and others, all now part of the General stable. It will now be the home of Hoyo, Punch and the other Villazon brands. Honduran cigar imports into the U.S. have been way down in 2009 and will likely fall behind Nicaragua to become the no. 3 exporter of cigars for the American market. For General, however, the move to convert the Cofradia plant to tobacco processing gives them flexibility for the future to reinstate manufacturing there is needed in the future. __________________ Try my Cigar Glue