This week, the news was about the new income record of Habanos S.A., the Cuban-Spanish corporation that internationally markets the most prestigious product on the island: its tobacco. Last year, this figure surpassed the barrier of 800 million dollars for the first time, 16% more than the income of the company in 2023, which marked its previous record.
Getting there, in an economically difficult context both internally and globally, confirms the business soundness of Habanos S.A., the success of its commercial strategies and its ability to overcome difficulties and contingencies. However, such achievements would not be possible without the land that produces the best tobacco in the world and the men and women who work it.
Tobacco farming in Cuba has a long and renowned reputation. This prestige is based, first of all, on the quality of the land where it is planted and harvested, on the unique conditions that certain localities of the island have for obtaining the aromatic tobacco leaves.
Among these areas, the Vuelta Abajo region stands out, in Pinar del Río, and in particular, in the municipalities of San Luis and San Juan y Martínez, two sanctuaries of tobacco production that have a Designation of Origin for Habanos. There, the rich soils and climatic conditions are perfect for harvesting the leaves of the cigars most appreciated by experts and smokers.
However, soil and climate alone are not enough. The people who bear the responsibility of the harvest on their shoulders are essential: the tobacco farmers. They are the initial architects of the conversion of seeds, and then of the plants that grow from them, into an acclaimed and exquisite product, a commercial bastion and a symbol of Cuba.
The tobacco workers, the men and women who dedicate their lives to planting, harvesting, sorting and destemming, are heirs to a centuries-old tradition. Many, the vast majority, learned this work as children, from their parents and grandparents — who in turn learned it from their ancestors — and will then teach it to their children, in a generational line that sustains tobacco culture.
Tobacco farming is hard and delicate work. It requires skill and dedication, and even more so if the leaves will give shape and aroma to a cigar. From the preparation of the seedbeds to manual harvesting, many months pass. Depending on their destination — the brand and the part of the cigar — the plants will be grown outdoors or covered with translucent fabrics that protect them and partially filter the sun’s rays.
They are then taken to the tobacco houses, where they are naturally air-cured, and from there they go to the sorting and destemming. At this last point they are fermented, aired, classified and destemmed according to their characteristics. The process is so complex and selective that only 50% of the harvested leaves that reach this point are classified for use in the Habanos factories.
Growing tobacco under normal conditions is difficult. Doing so in the midst of the deep crisis the island is experiencing is much more difficult. Even with the priorities that this activity may have due to its economic value, there are many difficulties that tobacco farmers must face on a daily basis. The everlasting shortages and blackouts, and problems with payments and collections derived from banking, are just some of them.
Their work is also not exempt from other effects of the crisis, such as emigration, and natural phenomena such as storms and hurricanes, which damage houses and crops and force them to start over again and again. However, tobacco farmers in Pinar del Río continue “struggling” with the land, and with their work they keep alive a centuries-old heritage that distinguishes Cuba as the land of the best tobacco in the world.
