TOB Magazine

PREMIUM

CIGARS

Frederik Vandermarliere,

CEO of J. Cortès, shares the business lessons he’s

learned from his family and reflects on what led to his company’s

successful partnership with Oliva Cigar.

BY ANTOINE REID

CELEBRATING

FAMILYVALUES

When J. Cortès’ acquisition of Oliva Cigar Co. was

announced in July 2016, many were surprised. News of

the coming U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

deeming rule was just settling in, and the tobacco indus-

try was still reeling. Acquisitions in any industry and

business tend to lead to the same questions: What will

become of the company being acquired? Will change be

coming to the products that both retailers and consum-

ers have come to know? Will the familiar faces behind

the brand suddenly disappear? Many also wondered:

Who exactly is J. Cortès, a company that has a strong

presence in the European market but not one in the U.S.?

A year has passed, and much has changed in the

tobacco industry, but one thing remains as it has always

been: Oliva Cigar Co. Its cigars are still stocked by

tobacconists in humidors across the nation, and the

Oliva family remains present and actively participat-

ing in the brand. Plus, surprisingly enough, J. Cortès

appears to stand behind the premium cigar company,

even with its own products still absent in the U.S., with

the exception of Neos, a machine-made premium ciga-

rillo brand that is now being distributed by Oliva in the

states. For Frederik Vandermarliere, CEO of J. Cortès,

everything is going to according to plan, including J.

Cortès’ scarcity of products in the U.S. market in com-

parison to that of the company it acquired last year.

“In the U.S. market, the things that Oliva can still do

within the premium segment are amazing,” he explains.

“Last year, I said to the team that we would do every-

thing we can to change nothing—except the things they

wanted to change.”

A HISTORY OF ACQUISITIONS

AND EXPANSION

Understanding Vandermarliere’s approach to business

and the reason behind the acquisition requires at look

at his family’s history. In 1926, his grandfather, Maurits

Vandermarliere, began to manufacture his own cigars

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