rial and to combine well in order to achieve the perfect taste”. At its facilities of 10,000 square meters, this plant located in the free zone employs about 150 people on average, 70% of whom are women, to work in various departments such as: Pre industry, handmade cigars, making wooden boxes, packing and shipping, among others.
José Matías Maragoto, Aidée Castilla and José Gabriel Maragoto ABAM is a company that has advanced technology installed, very high-tech and which produces three million long filler cigars per year, having the capacity of manufacturing about eight million Premium cigars; it is a factory committed to the conservation of the environment, which is self-sustainable in much of the energy that is used in their production processes after a large investment they have made in solar panels to generate clean energy.
“You must know how to balance the amount and types of tobacco in order to achieve the perfect taste”
The production of quality cigars by ABAM is intended for their own brands and cigars of Private Labels produced for customers according to their requirements, but with the full supervision and experience of ABAM, thus helping to create a premium product and presentation, by engaging in the proposition of cigar blends, ring gauge, logos, cigar rings, packaging and everything that is required to help the client achieve a high
quality cigar, as they have done, for example, for their client the Villiger Group, one of the most important tobacco groups in Europe, where most of the production of ABAM cigars goes to. When advising clients, José Matías Maragoto always keeps an old Cuban phrase in mind, that teaches the key for success in the cigar industry: “ ‘The secret is in the blend’, this is a phrase that needs no explanation and that we always keep in mind, to use the right amount of raw mate-
Aidée Castilla de Maragoto, José Gabriel Maragoto and José Matías Maragoto
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The high quality standards that the ABAM Cigar Factory has achieved are due to their selection of fine tobacco leaves and the training system for their employees. José Matías Maragoto confesses that he has had the privilege of buying tobacco leaves from the same Dominican supplier ever since 1996, which is José Méndez & Co. after meeting the extraordinary couple who are Mrs. Mercedes and Mr. Siegfried, who have offered total support in providing the best local raw materials. To stock up on quality leaves from other countries, such as Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador, they keep a close business relationship with their international supplier who is A.S.P. Enterprises, located in Miami, and from whom they have also received support from the beginnings of the company. And as says Mr. Maragoto, no good raw material is worth it if it is not in the hands of the best professionals. Thus, this family factory which he heads is composed of a Board of Directors with well-defined responsibilities, consisting of his wife Aidee; his mother in law, Martha, and his brother José Gabriel, in addition to the help from his uncle Adalberto “Berto” who is their consultant. As the factory is located outside of the traditional cigar manufacturing circuit, there are few cigar makers that have been formed in other factories; so they have created a permanent training school in their facility for their own staff. This way all employees have been trained by ABAM factory managers, with the great honor that today, three of the key supervisors of the company, started there as cigar rollers themselves. This training system of the factory benefits the community of Villa Mella, who can have access to decent and well paid work in their own area as well as being able to receive Corporate Social Responsibility Plans that ABAM has, as is the interest-free financing system, school plans, medical operations and vaccination campaigns. All in all, working with family, using the best raw material in the market, with employees trained by their own system, results in obtaining top quality cigars. And if we add clean energy to protect the environment and collaborate with the community of Buena Vista in Villa Mella, where the factory is installed, we can bet on great success for the Cigar Factory.