Tobacco Business

[ 54 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MAY / JUNE | 21 ] especially in the U.S. To achieve this goal, STG devoted a significant amount of resources to developing Forged Cigar Company with the overall goal of supporting the retail community. “Considering that we are investing heavily in retail despite the pandemic, we are sending a loud and clear message to the industry that STG is committed to our retail partners,” says Broersma. “Given that focused innovation and focused investment against the retail channel are our core strategies for 2021, we chose to open the year with the launch of The Forged Cigar Company. At a time when many manufacturers are pulling feet off the street, we are putting a dedicated new team of cigar sales professionals out in the market to support our brands at retail.” A major opportunity that STG saw for Forged Cigar Company was the potential to give some brands in its portfolio the chance to thrive and grow with more sales and marketing support. STG began looking at the many brands it had in its portfolio and identified which had the most potential if they weremoved to ForgedCigar Company’s handling. This mirrored the successful growth strategy the company had used in the past to identify and build up its top brands. “When we allocate dedicated resources against brands that are designated as top priorities, we grow those brands faster, which benefits both STG and our retail partners,” says Broersma. As a standalone distribution company, Forged Cigar Company and its dedicated staff can focus on the potential of the brands it represents. This also allows General Cigar’s sales team the opportunity to place a better emphasis on growing its leading brands. Though they are operating as two different divisions within STG, both General Cigar and Forged Cigar Company are committed to partnering with retailers, supporting the brands they represent with engaging programming, delivering innovation that aligns with what retailers and consumers want and producing compelling brand executions that will drive consumer pull. The main difference between the two companies is that Forged Cigar Company must convert brands that have been successful in e-commerce, such as Bolivar Cofradia and El Rey Del Mundo, into top-selling brands in physical brick-and-mortar retail outlets. Launching Forged Cigar Company with a strong portfolio was a high priority and big focus for Forged Cigar Company. STG and Forged’s team populated the new company’s portfolio with brands that were all viewed as strong and competitive, including legacy brands like Partagas, and La Gloria Cubana, in addition to El Rey Del Mundo and Bolivar Cofradia. While these brands will all receive the most investment to help them grow quickly, other cult brands like Diesel and Chillin’ Moose were added to the mix to round out the portfolio. “Having stalwart brands like La Gloria Cubana and Partagas is a strong beach head for the organization, and when you factor in Diesel— which is one of the fastest growing brands in the category—it’s clear we’re starting from a position of strength when it comes to our brands,” explains SeanHardiman. “The opportunity to take e-commerce brands like Bolivar Cofradia and El Rey Del Mundo to retail will translate to significant growth. And with a value-priced offering like Chillin’ Moose Considering that we are investing heavily in retail despite the pandemic, we are sending a loud and clear message to the industry that STG is committed to our retail partners. — Régis Broersma Forged Cigar Company was created to better support Scandinavian Tobacco Group's portfolio of premium cigars, like El Rey del Mundo.