74 TOBACCO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER | 22 focused on fast, quick activations, seldomly do we take time to really explore experience and really focus and hone in on that. “Look at your morning routine and the coffee you have—it’s not just about pressing a button and making the coffee. That may be great for some people, but for those that enjoy coffee, how do we create a better experience for them? We take that all the way down into aromatics. When you walk into your home or wake up in the morning, creating that sense, that memory of invoking a specific feeling through aromatics. How does Peter James create that lifestyle? Many people think it’s just product based, but it’s not. From products to events to content management, we’re a wide breadth of services as a company.” Today, Peter James Co. is far more than an accessory manufacturer. The company offers its own organic coffee product, PannaPura. The coffee aligned with the company’s focus on elevating experiences. Laurendi is a coffee lover and was aware of the way that coffee figures into the lives of many other cigar smokers. Peter James Co. worked in collaboration with Roaster Bar Coffee to create Panna Pura, a creamy coffee that has balanced flavors of sweet hazelnut and delicious dark chocolate with no bitter aftertaste. This coffee is 100 percent organic and ethically sourced from co-op coffee grower communities that focus on sustainability. Those that enjoy espressos have gravitated toward this product. “I was tired of pairing bitter coffee with my cigar and ruining my palate,” Laurendi explains. “A couple of us here are pretty crazy about coffee, and we said there’s got to be a better coffee experience. We teamed up with some crazier people than we are about coffee, and we made a blend that was specifically made for cigars: very elegant, very soft, very smooth— nice chocolate and cocoa notes but no bitter aftertaste. The mouthfeel at the end of it keeps you wanting more.” With Peter James Co.’s furniture line, the company wanted to build on something that already existed in the cigar industry—comfortable furniture that one would see in a cigar lounge—and create a new selling opportunity for retailers. “If we look at cigar shops and lounges, they’re filled with leather chairs and sofas,” says Laurendi. “You have so many people experiencing that sofa and that chair on a daily basis. It would make sense for a shop owner to have the ability to not only provide a seat for their guests but also [to have] the ability for that guest to purchase it from them if they like it. You have a free showroom, and you have people demoing your product every day. So we thought, ‘Why don’t we come up with our own leather line of furniture where the shop owners can actually benefit from its use?’ From a business standpoint, it’s a tax writeoff at the end of the day because you’ll have to replace that [chair or sofa] probably in the next five to 10 years. But how do you profit from that and provide value to your customers at the same time? We want to provide revenue and value.” These products are a few examples of the way Laurendi has been able to transformPeter James Co., into a lifestyle brand. He and his teamcontinue to think of new products that will enhance the lives of cigar smokers. This has led to the company developing its own fragrance line and also has his team working on something that will take the company further into being a fashion brand as well. Developing these products required a lot of trial and error, but it has also taught Laurendi how to lean into feelings. “At the end of the day, as long as we’re doing something with intention, then even if it fails it still felt right,” he says. “If you’re doing things without intention and you’re throwing spaghetti at a wall, it makes it a little more challenging.” Laurendi stresses to his team that, as a company, it’s more important This year, Peter James Co. released its first cigar line, named Los Estocio, which is available in both a Habano and Maduro blend.
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