Higgs lists Colts Mild amongst the best selling traditional cigars in Canada. Also included in this group are Colts Rum & Wine, Colts Sweets, Colts Whisky, M by Colts Cream, M by Colts Café Moka, M by Colts Café Latte as well as Café Crème and Café Crème Blue.
This is essential to strengthening cigar sales, adds James Higgs, vice president Marketing with full service tobacco company Scandinavian Tobacco Group Canada (STGC). It is through efforts such as staff training for product awareness that has helped the traditional cigar sector to remain stable over the past year. “Twelve months rolling [ending June 2012] has seen the traditional cigar segment [with brands like Colts, M, Café Crème etc.] broadly stable with import volumes at the same lev-
els versus the previous year,” he says, noting little cigar imports for the same period were around four per cent down versus the previous year. “Little cigars have experienced growth, and are up around 18 per cent, with a notably strong performance in central and western Canada.” This trend toward little cigars is not surprising to Ken Storey, director of sales at House of Horvath, Canada’s largest independent cigar distributor with a tradition that goes back to 1932.
“We are continuing to see an adult preference toward smaller cigars that take less time. Pom Pom Mini continues to be the first choice for an increasing number of adult cigar smokers that shop in convenience stores,” says Storey, remarking the introduction this year of Swisher Sweet Minis was a great complement to the mini segment. “Swisher is one of the most recognized names in cigars, and the addition of the Swisher Sweet Minis to our portfolio has been a great addition to our wide assortment of cigars,” he says pointing to a line that includes quality, mass market and premium cigar manufacturers in the Canadian marketplace, as well as cigars made in their own facility in Toronto such as Bances, Bandi & No 263 brands. In fact, House of Horvath is the place to call for mass market brands such as Swisher, Pom Pom, Blackstone, Agio, Panter, along with premium entries including Toscano, Toscanello, Aurora, Leon Jimenes, Punch, Casa Magna, Tributo, Torano, Loyal, My Father, My
CONVENIENCE & CARWASH CANADA
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