HSA Stock Update

[El Presidente]

 

It continues to be ugly out there in the cigar supply world. 

I took the opportunity to do a ring around of industry contacts  (in and outside of Cuba) Friday, the weekend and this morning.

Stock supply to distributors from HSA  has not improved......it has actually got worse.  Lips are tight out of Cuba but the official line is 

"it will probably get worse before it gets better. Maybe 6 months". 

That is code for: We have no idea 

Snippets of truth

• There is little money in Cuba and big demands on the money that there is.  
• They are struggling to get enough workers in the factories. 
• There is a big brain drain of middle to senior factory management as they head to Nicaragua and from there, elsewhere.

Internationally, every distributor is screaming for answers. Few/none are forthcoming. Retailers are looking for answers from distributors and largely being met with the same brick wall.  Everyone is scrambling. 

International demand is through the roof as more and more countries come through the other side of CV19. Everyone needs to be restocked. 

So with International cigar shelves/reserves of Cuban Cigars at bare bone levels, the best that I can see HSA doing is maintaining the status quo. I (nor does anyone I speak to) believe that they (HSA/Tabacuba) have the ability to claw back/add strategic cigar reserves. 

We are reviewing the situation weekly and thank PCC for their continued support of FOH. Hell, you will even see some Behike, COLA etc this week and next. 

However it is one big shell/cups game that changes on a week to week basis. 

Right now, I would say over 50% of the HSA catalogue is unavailable at any given time.  How do they decide on what gets produced?......no one knows 

.....and just for good measure, price rises May for the privilege  or retailers/distributors not being able to order stock over the past 18 months. 

There is a lot of anger right now at the consumer, retailer and distributor level. This whole scenario is a Cluster F. 

Hang on to your hat folks. We are in for a roller coaster ride.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ha_banos]

Yee ha! 🤠

Mental as far as CC goes. This will massively change the landscape.

I feel for the regular people of Cuba.

I'm glad I'm stocked up. Good fortune to all.

Are you going to start stocking NC other than Des nudos? You'll need something to sell!

 

[Islandboy]

Meanwhile the customs market seems to be exploding, at least here in the US. Time to expand the Des Nudos line!

[riderpride]

Thanks for the update. We appreciate your efforts and those of PCC during the shortage. 

Good luck to the Cuban ppl, and to you in diversifying your offerings. 

FOH bowling shoes?

Cheers

[B44]

FOH entering the Habanos master warehouse 

[El Presidente]

42 minutes ago, Islandboy said:

Meanwhile the customs market seems to be exploding, at least here in the US. Time to expand the Des Nudos line!

Producing is the easy part. 

Producing consistently excellent cigars that I would smoke everyday is the hard part. 

I would be very happy if we had 4 blends in 4 sizes of Desnudo up by Christmas for regular sale all shipped from Miami.. 

[SCgarman]

This would be the perfect time for non Cuban cigar producers to drive the final nail in the coffin of Cuban cigars. Of course this would only be possible if NC companies had enough inventory to supply the world demand, Do they? IDK. Glad I am stocked up with plenty of my Cuban favorites and have cut back on cigar consumption. The current prices are downright crazy, and I wouldn't want to be a newb starting to build an inventory in this current situation. 

[El Presidente]

3 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

This would be the perfect time for non Cuban cigar producers to drive the final nail in the coffin of Cuban cigars. Of course this would only be possible if NC companies had enough inventory to supply the world demand, Do they? IDK. 

They don't unfortunately.  

Those with NC  EU and Asian distribution deals are putting in big  NC orders that can't be filled right now. The word is they will be able to fill them in 6 months.  That may or may not be true. 

Big challenge is convincing the EU/Asian consumer. If you smoke an E2 regularly you are unlikely  going to give a thumbs up to a Perdomo. 

[PigFish]

This is what a Siglo 3 used to look like if anyone needed a reminder….. -lol Welcome back to the 90’s…..

[riderpride]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

 

I would be very happy if we had 4 blends in 4 sizes of Desnudo up by Christmas for regular sale all shipped from Miami.. 

[Rhinoww]

Thank you for the transparency, even if that is who the hell knows. Crazy times ahead for the foreseeable future, that’s for sure. 
Seems like we are on a rolling six months to see when we will know more re timing of a true restocking. 
Crazy thing is that of the harvests continue to be decent, they will have the lead just not the plan to get to the rollers for production in any particular order. 
I sure hope that we don’t end up in the Soviet era approach of buy whatever is available because you never know what will be next available or when. 
Such a bummer right now that supply will remain tight for some time. 

[Edicion]

Thank you for the update, could have been much worse actually.

[Monocle]

At least the BR side of things will benefit. Not much of a silver-lining.

[TheCigarslayer]

I should have jumped a bit on the 19/20 production while it lasted. Oh well, guess these resting sticks will get put to flame while I wait 

[Duxnutz]

Crazy times. Haven’t been able to find some staples in a fair while. 

[SigmundChurchill]

11 hours ago, SCgarman said:

This would be the perfect time for non Cuban cigar producers to drive the final nail in the coffin of Cuban cigars. Of course this would only be possible if NC companies had enough inventory to supply the world demand, Do they? IDK. Glad I am stocked up with plenty of my Cuban favorites and have cut back on cigar consumption. The current prices are downright crazy, and I wouldn't want to be a newb starting to build an inventory in this current situation. 

I only speak for myself, but I think if I have to switch to NCs, it’s a sign that it’s time for me to quit cigars.

[amberleaf]

At this point I'd be happy if HSA introduced some decent but affordable machine-made, hand-finished cigars with long filler. Would help allieviate their labour shortage.

[joeypots]

More proof that cigars will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no cigars. 

[Juliano88]

Glad I’m stocked up, and glad I smoke nc’s as well. Thanks for the update. 

[anacostiakat]

Thanks for the update.  Have seen this in my own perusing of sites.  Very little movement of stock and most in smaller sizes if at all.  From what I can tell you are doing much better than most.  So keep up the good work!  I don't see NC's being able to hurdle the new customer mark as their prices and choice of tobacco for the most part just won't do it IMHO.  Even the cost of some customs have skyrocketed.  Sigh...  

[Meesterjojo]

Apparently the D4 is the cigar aficionado #4 cigar of last year. Unfortunately for me I still have too many, but at least they keep me in cuban smokes for a long while longer. 

Thanks for the update. Time to tighten my belt I reckon. 

[Nevrknow]

29 minutes ago, Meesterjojo said:

Apparently the D4 is the cigar aficionado #4 cigar of last year. Unfortunately for me I still have too many, but at least they keep me in cuban smokes for a long while longer. 

Thanks for the update. Time to tighten my belt I reckon. 

To many D 4's. That's funny. 😁

[JohnnyO]

Very sad to hear this. For whatever reason they are raising the prices in Cuba as well. Saw Siglo IV in T3 at 20 Euros a stick ($575 USD/25) and Siglo VI at 30 Euros or USD $860/25. Crazy numbers. John

[havanaclub]

Very sad to hear this. For whatever reason they are raising the prices in Cuba as well. Saw Siglo IV in T3 at 20 Euros a stick ($575 USD/25) and Siglo VI at 30 Euros or USD $860/25. Crazy numbers. John

Crazy! What I find funny is that Cuba hadn’t increased island prices for years. Like 8-10 yrs or more, but recently in the past year or so we have seen increases like 2 or more times.
On the most updated YUL page sig VI 715 (they were 490 for many years. My last 10ct I got a few years back was 196 or 19.60 a stick) and the recent updated prices on the sig IV was 462.50 (was 323.75). So this appears to be another bump in prices on the island. Unless this is just some airport bump in prices?!? IMO I think they are making a mistake as many will start to look for cheaper alternatives like NCs.
I love CCs but these are getting out of hand.


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[BrightonCorgi]

How is the farming to curing part of the manufacturing cycle going?  If leaf sits in a warehouse for longer than needed; could produce some quality cigars when they are ready & able to do so.