Today - and tomorrow - I have the fantastic opportunity to dive deep into the subject of tobacco cultivation and tobacco processing. This means following all the steps that happen before the tobacco reaches the cigar factories.
These tobacco processing companies are important for all manufacturers who do not have their own fields, i.e. non-vertically integrated manufacturers. But almost all cigar factories, even those that grow their own tobacco, have to buy in tobacco for their blend variety. Some buy all of it and some less.
I am immensely lucky and truly honored that the owner of the largest tobacco processing company in the Dominican Republic - José Méndez Tobaccos - has taken two entire days, including dinner, to answer my questions with infinite patience.
I am talking to and from Siegfried P. Maruschke.
This is just one of the first things to say: the quantities that are produced here with massive quality control are unbelievable.
But of course, José Méndez supplies all the well-known cigar manufacturers, not just in the Dominican Republic, but in all cigar countries. It is a producer, processor, packer, seller and exporter of the very best Dominican tobaccos.
The upbeat duo - Siegfried and Mario (the company's legal advisor and responsible for sustainability) pick me up, we enter the gigantic halls, which look like a cathedral and in the middle, between Trojas and Pilones, there is a lounge made of tobacco bales. An enchanting place!
We immediately dive deep into the subject: while we smoke cigar leaves from just one particular seed and region (first a Seco Habano from the Navarrete area, then a Seco Piloto Mejorado from the La Canela region with a noticeably stronger taste), Siegfried refreshes my knowledge of history and my geographical and geological understanding of the Dominican Republic. The main focus is on the fertile Cibao Valley, where the lion's share of the tobacco grows and where all the farms from which Méndez buys tobacco are located. We talk about the tobacco-growing regions and their characteristics, Navarrete and La Canela, for example, are two of these six tobacco regions of the Valley.
The Méndez family came to the Dominican Republic from Cuba in 1962, but had already been involved with tobacco in Cuba for two generations before that. Siegfried Maruschke is the fifth generation - and has been involved for “30 harvests” this year, as he proudly tells me - so he has been involved for almost 30 years.
Siegfried's grandfather was impressed by the geological conditions and tobacco had already been grown on Hispaniola - but for cigars and not in the quality required for long-fillers.
One company structure later and after painstaking efforts to convince the farmers that they could also make good money with quality tobacco, José Méndez Tobaccos was founded in 1972 - and was thus the turning point and the starting point for long-fillet tobacco cultivation on the island. Thanks to José Méndez, whose first harvest, when he offered it to potential buyers in Tampa and the Canary Islands, was marveled at in disbelief and people assumed it was Cuban tobacco.
Back then, José was the teacher for the farmers when it came to long-filler tobacco cultivation and the family still sources its tobacco from precisely these families today.
Méndez supplies seeds, fertilizer, invests in water pumps and infrastructure, and advises the farmers on a daily basis with an immense team of agronomists - and they have been loyal to the company and its quality for years.
A few facts to give you an idea of the dimensions:
José Méndez processes
- 2,000 tons of tobacco per year. 60 percent of this goes into long-filler cigars, 40 percent into the short-filler market
- Méndez sources tobacco from 250 farmers, whose average area under cultivation is around 4 hectares.
- the halls where the tobacco is processed and stored cover 25,000 square meters
- 700 people work for Méndez
The starting point for this immense size was two farmers and 4 employees in the 1970s! Around then, when José Méndez took the Piloto seed from Cuba to the Dominican Republic and it has been enriching the island and our cigars ever since: the famous Piloto Cubano - from José's pockets!
Today, as then, the credo is to give the tobacco time, to be careful and to provide the very best tobacco for the cigar makers.
I can see that this is where the love and passion for the product begins, indeed must begin, and has its origins.
Siegfried has every possible flavor specification - which is multiplied by seed variety, growing region and crop year - in his head.
This fascinates me, along with the efficiency and precision with which his employees process the tobacco.
Everything is also done under the best possible conditions: over the years, the company has managed to keep almost all harmful substances out of the tobacco - it is already several steps ahead of global regulations and is always guided by the strictest scenario.
Méndez operates as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible: the energy required is generated by solar cells on the roofs and the rainwater is collected - even in the fields.
In addition, no plastic is used and all materials are reused as often as possible.
You can see in the film that I was able to see for myself the care and precision with which the work is carried out - but also the love for the product.
I'm already looking forward to tomorrow, when Siegfried and Mario will show me the fields and I can talk to the agronomists and farmers!
For now, good evening, good night, good afternoon or good morning, wherever you are!
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