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who support the anti’s, and also with those who
support Big Tobacco, so we have things work-
ing against us, but we are hoping to somehow
have that moved. Also, we are dealing with a
new [political] administration.
TBI:
Have the deeming regulations
and announcements hurt you,
sales-wise?
Patel:
So far, nothing has affected our sales.
Most retailers know Rocky Patel to be com-
pliant and to follow all guidelines and rules. We
are a brand that can withstand the regulation.
It will be very burdensome and costly, and will
definitely affect our margins and profit, but at
the end of the day, we will be compliant.
But retailers need to know that if they do
have companies that are not compliant, all
of that product could be confiscated with
fines associated with it, so they need to filter
through that and see who will be around to be
compliant. I think there will be a cleansing in
the industry; only the strong will survive at this
point, unless something fundamental changes.
A lot of retailers are in la-la land. They’re in
a fantasy. They don’t have a clue or care to have
a clue, and they assume this is no big deal.
Others have gotten involved to investigate
what a manufacturer needs to do to be com-
pliant. They’re smart enough to take a closer
look to see who has the financial capability to
withstand this.
TRUMP REVELATIONS
TBI:
What about the new administra-
tion? Do you expect that will have a
positive or negative effect?
Patel:
We’re hopeful that we can get execu-
tive relief with the new president-elect and his
cabinet. We are hopeful that the present reg-
ulation and the entire U.S. economy changes
and that we are somewhere on that list of
what needs to be saved. Otherwise tens of
thousands of jobs will be lost in this industry,
including all the ancillary work—FedEx ship-
ping jobs, printing jobs, advertising jobs and
everything associated with making and selling
cigars. It will be a chain effect. And it’s not just
the U.S. Jobs will be lost in the Dominican Re-
public, Honduras and Nicaragua—300,000
jobs are possibly affected there.
What’s good is we got a new president,
and that’s certainly good for the industry.
We’re hopeful.
TBI:
Do you expect the sale of Cuban
cigars to become a reality in this coun-
try under the new regime
?
Patel:
The recent hype of the past two years
got everybody excited, but nothing is going to
come out of it. Obama let people traveling to
Cuba come back with $100 worth of Cuban
cigars, but that doesn’t allow us as cigar mak-
ers to go in and farm or make cigars. It’s even
less likely that this president is going to follow
that trend. If anything, we will probably have
those loopholes again.
All that hype—it’s just hype.
BOUTIQUE BRAND
REVELATIONS
TBI:
Is Rocky Patel still
considered a boutique brand?
Patel:
We still call ourselves a boutique com-
pany because everything we do is done with
the cottage industry in mind, with art in mind,
with strict quality controls and with special
aged tobacco just like when were a smaller
company. We took our original plan and con-
cept and brought it to a bigger scale. We’re
still a hands-on, vertically integrated compa-
ny. We’ve just done it larger. But as far as our
passion, hard work and time invested, that’s all
still the same.
TBI:
What do you think will happen to
other boutique companies if the regu-
lation stays as it’s written now?
Patel:
There are probably a lot of boutiques
that will not survive. Competition is good for
any industry, and that’s why we’re fighting
so hard to protect this. We were small at one
point, and we want to ensure fresh ideas come
from new, small companies. I think that’s
healthy and that’s why we’re fighting so hard
to push back regulation.
TBI:
How do you keep the
Rocky Patel “edge” going strong?
Patel:
It’s interesting you use that word as we
have a cigar line called The Edge.
We think outside the box; we are very pro-
gressive in the way we do business. We work
hard and play hard, and I wake up every day
pretending that it's Christmas and New Year’s.
There’s no difference to me between Monday,
Saturday or Sunday. Every day is a work day,
but also when we play, we do know how to
have a lot of fun with good libations, food,
[ T O B O N L I N E . C O M ]
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
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