 | |
| Company type | S.A. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Founded | 1994; 31 years ago (1994) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Cigars,cigarettes |
| Owner | Cubatabaco andAltadis[1] |
| Website | habanos.com |
| Footnotes / references Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 | |
Habanos S.A. is aCubanmanufacturing company oftobacco that controls the promotion, distribution, and export of premiumcigars and other tobacco products for Cuba worldwide. It was established in 1994.[2]
Ownership of Habanos S.A. is split equally between state-ownedCubatabaco and privately held Spanish-based tobacco giantAltadis.[2] The company commercialises the brandsCohiba,Montecristo,Bolívar, andRomeo y Julieta, amongst others.
The wordhabanos (not normally capitalised) means literally(something) from Havana, and is the word used in the Spanish-speaking world for Havana cigars and, sometimes, cigars in general. Habanos S.A. owns the trademarks of every brand of Cuban-made cigars andcigarettes in the countries they are exported to[3] and franchises theLa Casa Del Habano chain of cigar stores.[2] To control distribution and protect againstcounterfeiting, Habanos S.A. exports to only onecompany in each country (Hunters & Frankau forGreat Britain andGibraltar, 5th Avenue Cigars forGermany, Intertabak forSwitzerland,Pacific Cigar Co. for most of thePacific Rim, etc.). The only nation to which Habanos S.A. doesn't sell cigars is theUnited States, which has had atrade embargo against Cuba since 1962.[4]
In 2000, the Franco-Spanish tobacco giantAltadis purchased 50% of Habanos S.A. There has been speculation that their influence has led to Habanos' drastic restructuring of their cigar lines and size offerings, the adoption of marketing practices and production methods more in-line with cigar companies that market in the US, and the increasing number of "special release" and "limited edition" lines of cigars.[citation needed] It has also been suggested that Altadis might be ramping Habanos up ready to trade with the US, anticipating the end of the embargo.[citation needed] On the other hand, some observers have noted a restoration of Cuban cigar quality, which had declined dramatically in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.[5] Altadis was acquired byImperial Tobacco in February 2008.
In May 2019, Imperial Tobacco announced their intention to sell their premium cigar division, including their share in Habanos S.A.[1][6][7] One year later, Imperial Brands announced the sale of Habanos S.A. through two different transactions for a total of€1,225 million. Firstly the U.S.-based business, "Premium Cigar USA" will be sold to Gemstone Investment Holding Ltd., while second Allied Cigar Corp. will acquire Imperial Brands' cigar business in the rest of the world, "Premium Cigar RoW".[1][8]
Habanos S.A., holds a worldwidemonopoly on selling Cuban cigars. In 2024, Habanos S.A. reported revenues of $827 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 16 percent. The company's primary export markets includeSpain,Switzerland, theUnited Kingdom, andChina.[9]
Habanos currently has 27 brands of handmade cigars, all of them within the Habanos Protected Appellations of Origin:[10]
Global brands:
High value portfolio brands:
Volume portfolio brands:
Other brands:
| Distributor[11] | Country of distribution |
|---|---|
| Barone Tobacco Trading Limited | Israel |
| The Cigar Company (SA) (PTY) LTD | South Africa |
| Phoenicia Trading T.A.A. (CYPRUS) LTD. | Lebanon, Syria, Republic of Ukraine, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Malta, Jordan, Oman, Cyprus, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa (except Algeria, Morocco and South Africa), Greece, Pakistan, Kuwait, Yemen and Turkey. |
| Société Marocaine des Tabacs | Morocco |
| Caribbean Cigars Corporation N.V. | Panama, British Virgin Islands, St. Barthelemy, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, St. Martin, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bonaire, Haiti, St. Eustatius, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Barbados, Curaçao, French Guiana, Anguilla, Montserrat, Martinique, Grenada, Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Grand Cayman, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. |
| Caribe Imports S.A.S. | Colombia |
| Cruz Canela & Trust G B Sociedad Anónima | Costa Rica and Nicaragua |
| Dalso S.R.L. | Dominican Republic |
| Emporium Cigars Importação e Comercialização de Tabaco Ltda. | Brazil |
| Havana House Cigars and Tobacco Merchants Ltd. | Canada |
| Puro Tabaco S.A. | Argentina, Chile and Uruguay |
| Vegas del Caribe S.A.C. | Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia |
| Importadora y Exportadora de Puros y Tabacos, S.A. DE C.V.(I.E.P.T.) | Mexico |
| Kukenan Tobacco Trading C.A. | Venezuela |
| Habanos, S.A. | Cuba |
| The Pacific Cigar Co. Ltd. | Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji Islands, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, Macau, Maldives, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Vanuatu, North Korea, Bhutan, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, East Timor, Tonga, Tuvalu and Marshall Islands and Palau. |
| RAAS Intratech PVT. Ltd. | India |
| Infifon Hong Kong Limited | China |
| Laguito 1492 | Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg |
| Fifth Avenue Products Trading, GMBH | Germany, Austria, and Poland |
| Habanos Nordic AB | Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. |
| Empor Importacao & Exportacao, S.A. | Portugal |
| Diadema S.P.A. | Italy, Vatican and San Marino |
| Kaliman Caribe | Bulgaria, Albania, Armenia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Georgia. |
| Hunters & Frankau | United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Gibraltar and the Republic of Ireland |
| Maori Tabacs S.A. | Andorra |
| Tabacalera S.L.U. | Spain except for the Canary Islands |
| Tabak Invest A.S. | Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary |
| Castilia Trading & Investments Limited | Palestine |
| Intertabak, A.G. | Switzerland and Liechtenstein |
| Cuba Cigar, S.L.U. | Canary Islands |
| Coprova, S.A.S. | France, Algeria and Monaco |
| Brands |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subsidiaries | |||||||
| Predecessors | |||||||
| People | |||||||
1Australia only;2Brands ofHabanos, a 50:50 joint venture between Imperial Tobacco andCubatabaco;350% share;4formerly, "Commonwealth Brands" | |||||||
