They will build a new tobacco megaplant in Estelí: 60,000 cigarettes per day

A large new tobacco factory will be built in Nicaragua. Specifically in Estelí, where Rocky Patel reported that work will begin next May, with the capacity to produce 60,000 cigarettes per day, Halfwheel, a media specialized in tobacco, reported on its website.

A team of the said media is attending the 11th Puro Sabor Festival in the city of Estelí, about 150 km north of Managua. According to the media, the first work will start in May next year and it is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months i.e. 2026.

“The new manufacturing complex is located on eight blocks, approximately 14 acres of land, in Estelí, Nicaragua. It will consist of eight buildings and will be capable of producing 60,000 cigars per day. In addition to rolling cigars, you will also be responsible for tobacco processing, including areas for fermenting, sorting, dismantling and storing tobacco,” the post described.

Additionally, other buildings will include offices, a cafeteria, medical facilities, and a man cave-style lounge described as “cigar entertainment”. Patel plans to “make it an all-in-one facility, which makes sense since it’s adjacent to the company’s Finca Villa Cuba estate.”

The new complex will be located near the main AJ Fernández factory in Miraflores and Oliva Tobacco Company facilities in Estelí.

In 2008, Rocky Patel opened Tabacalera Villa Cuba SA (Tavicusa) in Estelí. Patel told Halfwheel that the rolling room at this factory will be 15 times larger than Tavikusa’s. In addition to his factory in Nicaragua, Patel contracts out the company’s manufacturing to the Plascenia family, Scandinavian Tobacco Group and Drew Estate. According to tobacco media reports, Patel said that once this new factory opens, the company will close the Tavikusa factory.

According to AFP, the tobacco business in Nicaragua emerged in the 1960s at the initiative of Cuban immigrants who fled the island after the 1959 revolution. He found volcanic soil rich in minerals and nutrients in the lands of the Estelí department, which, combined with the tropical climate, was suitable for tobacco, he explains.

According to a report by Halfwheel, Patel makes and sells high-quality cigars. They have recently launched their Conviction line, known for its price of $100 per cigar, as well as a Sixties line and an upcoming release celebrating the Year of the Dragon.

85 percent of production goes to the United States, with sales of about $400 million in 2023. The rest mostly goes to European countries, Rubio points out.

In the United States, Nicaraguan cigars are preferred because Cuban cigars cannot be sold.

About 35,000 people work directly in this area of ​​the Estelí department, from where it extends to Jalapa in the northern department of Nueva Segovia.

There are also plans to expand to Somoto, the northern department of Madrid, and to Ometepe, the largest island in Lake Cocibolca, in the south.

There are more than 65,000 people in the country who work in plantations, dryers, treatment centers and cigarette factories.