January 22 2020  |  Spirits & Tobacco

Oliva Cigars officially opens the doors of its Nicaraguan Tabolisa 1 facility

By Hibah Noor


The Oliva Cigars team cuts the ribbon at a special inauguration ceremony in Esteli

Following a three-year project, which began in November 2016, the opening of the new facility in Esteli is designed to increase efficiency & capacity for the production of Oliva Cigars.

From 2020, the Tabolisa 1 (Tabolisa Uno) facility will not only increase production, but also expand cigar storage, packing, freezing, aging rooms and employee health benefits.

In addition to making more room for increasing the numbers of leaf pre-selection stage, phase one included growing the team (from 30 to 80 employees), expanding the packaging area, enhacning the finished product cool storage warehouse capacity (from two 40-foot containers to eight) and increasing the size of the packaging warehouse (from 400-sq. feet to 6,800-sq. feet).

The first phase was completed in December 2018, which initiated a shift in focus to renovating the existing site building.

Fred Vandemarliere, owner, Cortes, says: [“The Oliva family offered our family a real gem by selling Oliva Cigars. Without them, we would never be where we are now. To let a diamond shine, you need to work it. We try to do this with care and the opening of Tabolisa Uno is a clear example of this promise. Cory, Fidel and their team did a fantastic job in making sure we got this facility to the level we want it to be.

We want to make good cigars with love. It seems easy to say, but we prove here that we thought about all three words in this sentence:

Good: quality remains a number one priority in everything we do. We know that someone who sits down, relaxes and wants to enjoy a good cigar does not want to compromise on quality. Therefore, we invested in extra capacity in both our aging and fermentation rooms. A cigar is a natural product and time is one of the most important elements to make it good; we now have extra space to give extra time.

Cigars: if you want to enjoy a cigar, you need to find it in a shop. Bigger is not always better, but if people want to find our cigars all over the world, we need to make sure we have them available.

Love: The work people do inside this facility needs to be appreciated. We want to put our hand where our mouth is by giving them the best possible environment to work in: good lighting, great space, cozy break rooms and a clinic for healthcare.

This opening and investment demonstrates our commitment to Nicaragua and, in particular, to our belief in the future of Oliva’s premium cigars.”

Vandemarliere concluded his address at the grand opening ceremony by noting that although the company makes a product that can damage your health, it’s important to smoke in moderation and enjoy the positive effects of enjoying a good cigar such as the perfect medium for disconnecting from this hectic world.

To celebrate the opening, Oliva will launch a limited edition of the 5.000 first Oliva Serie V Double Robusto’s ever made in this new environment. Each is individually numbered and packed in a unique box displaying the same design as the new factory.

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