Davidoff Acquires More Land, Builds New Camacho Factory
Oettinger Davidoff AG, the parent company behind Davidoff cigars, is making a significant push to expand its production capabilities. The company recently announced the major acquisition of tobacco farmland and fertile earth in Nicaragua’s Condega region and the Jamastran Valley in Honduras, as well as the construction of a larger cigar factory in Honduras to better serve the demands of its Camacho, Room101 and Baccarat customers.
“Our new land in Condega, Nicaragua, is already an active tobacco plantation with excellent soil conditions,” Paloma Szathmáry, senior vice president corporate communications at Oettinger Davidoff AG told Cigar Insider. “Tobacco from Condega is crucial to the blend and success of Davidoff Nicaragua and we look forward to plant and experiment with our own seeds.”
In total, the company has acquired over 150 hectares (about 370 acres) of new land in Nicaragua and Honduras. The soil in Honduras, however, needs a bit of work before it’s ready for farming.
“The Jamastran Valley, Honduras, plot is extremely fertile ground as the Las Llaras River runs through our property,” Szathmáry explained. “We are turning it into a tobacco farm and will already be planting tobacco in a few weeks and expect a harvest for Camacho already this summer.”
But Camacho has more to look forward to than just new tobacco harvests. The company also announced that a new Agroindustrias Laepe factory, colloquially known as the Camacho factory, has been designed by Honduran architect Gonzalo Núñez Díaz and is gearing up for production.
“The plan as it stands today is to have the factory completed by the end of this year, so that we can begin production at the new location when we re-open in January 2016,” said Dylan Austin, director of marketing for Camacho Cigars.
The new Camacho factory in Danlí, Honduras, will sit on almost 450,000 square feet of land, and in its initial phase, operate over an area of 185,000 square feet. The new factory will be located near the Pan-American Highway, less than half a mile from the company’s existing box factory. The old Agroindustrias Laepe factory will be divested.
The company says they simply outgrew the old building. “The need for a new factory was directly impacted by the explosive growth of Camacho,” said Austin.
Acquired by Davidoff in 2008, the Camacho brand is booming worldwide after a somewhat sleepy start in the first few years after trading hands. Austin commented, “The brand was somewhat stagnant from acquisition until the decision was made to shake things up.”
This shake-up occurred in 2013, when Camacho went through a major overhaul with new packaging, reformulated blends and a streamlining of cigar lines and sizes.
“The brand really exploded after the relaunch and brought about unprecedented excitement from global markets,” said Austin.
Camacho currently has distribution in the United States and Canada, 26 countries in Europe and six countries in Asia. The company is confident growth prospects will remain strong. Said Austin: “All global markets are growing exponentially, effectively on track to double sales worldwide through the end of 2015 since the relaunch.”
This story first appeared in the March 24, 2015 issue of Cigar Insider.
