Tobacco Business

[ 84 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ JANUARY / FEBRUARY | 22 ] Synergy Program Takes Off Another big topic of our articles has been the new CFW Synergy Program. The Synergy Program is something I came up with a few years ago as a way for companies to support CFW. I never dreamed anyone would want to be part of it. The basic principles of the program are that manufacturers work with the CFW marketing team to come up with a blend, box and band design for a special release. The manufacturer then donates 100 percent of the profits of this special release to CFW. This release can also only be sold at CFW’s official donation centers. The Synergy Program really exploded in 2021, and a big part of the reason why was the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) trade show that was held in Las Vegas in May. We came into the show with two companies signed on: Hiram and Solomon and Caldwell Cigar Co. Both of those companies’ owners and their spouses are very big on charity and love supporting the troops in any way they can, so they were an easy sell on the program. Really, it was them that pushed it into happening. Hiram and Solomon released its CFW collaboration, a cigar called Live2Serve, at the show and nearly sold out of its first order of these limited edition cigars by the show’s end. Caldwell Cigar Co. released its CFW cigar, Mad Mofo, during Labor Day weekend, and the first part of this limited edition cigar sold out before month’s end. Retailers that are a designated CFW donation center should call Caldwell Cigar Co. now to get put on the list for the next boxes of this cigar that are scheduled to come in soon. We initially thought it would take half a year for these cigars to catch on, and it was amazing to see all the talk and excitement about them. Additionally, we signed on over 30 stores to become CFW donation centers while at TPE. The program is designed for a maximum of six to seven cigar manufacturers. We had hoped that maybe one other company would want to be part of it, but instead we had more than the last four companies come to us asking to be part of it. We chose six manufacturers to be part of the Synergy Program so that we wouldn’t overwhelm our donation centers or our supporters who may have wanted to buy one or two boxes of each release. We also have several non-cigar companies we met at the trade show that want to be part of the Synergy Program. We are looking forward to the third cigar release for the CFW Synergy Program on Valentine’s Day of this year. Oscar Valaderas, a longtime supporter of CFW, is making a showcase cigar called CFW by Oscar. These will not last very long. If you’re a CFW donation center retailer, you will be able to preorder these at TPE22 in January. We have two more companies that are making showcase cigars for CFW that are also coming out 2022: Cavalier Cigar Co. and Kretek International. More information on these releases will be provided soon! Last year, we started working with Janus Coffee Roasters as part of our partnership program. Together, we came up with two coffee blends: Loyalty and Honor. While there are absolutely tons of great coffee collaborations out there, what makes CFW’s coffee very special is that not only does Janus donate 50 The Lone Star Cigar Association's CFW fundraiser, which was held in October 2021 at the Force Aviation hangar in Dallas, Texas, raised over $2,600 and collected 140 cigars.