The 2015 Cigar Coop Factory of the Year Award for a Large/ Multi-Faceted Operation goes to Davidoff.

When we setup the Factory of the Year Awards we realized it was not apples to apples when it comes to all premium hand-made factory operations. Therefore, we decided to split the award between a small / single operation and a large / multi-operation.

The Davidoff operation encompasses two countries, the Dominican Republic and Honduras.  The Dominican Republic operation falls under the TABADOM (Tabacos Dominicanos Companies Group) umbrella and consists of three distinct factories – Cigars Davidoff (makes the Davidoff branded products), O.K. Cigars (known for Avo and Zino), and Occidental Cigars (makes third party cigars such as Hammer + Sickle).  In Honduras is the Agroindustrias Laepe, which makes Camacho, Room 101, and even some third party cigars (Caldwell).

The Davidoff factory operation has been an integral part of executing the company’s innovation.  During 2015, TABADOM produced several products that were highly successful including the Davidoff Escurio, Davidoff Winston Churchill, and Avo. Both Winston Churchill and Avo underwent major branding facelifts and in the end the products proved to make these efforts a success. In addition, Davidoff produced the Camacho American Barrel Aged at O.K. cigars – the first Camacho product to be made at TABADOM.  TABADOM also saw a new General Manager with the promotion of Hamlet Espinal to that position.

Honduras saw growth for Davidoff too at Agroindustrias Laepe. Camacho has now entered its third year since rebranding and according to Davidoff is now the second most important brand in the portfolio. Earlier this year, the factory took on producing Blind Man’s Bluff for Caldwell Cigar Company. With continued growth, Davidoff announced plans to build a new expanded factory to replace the current Agroindustrias Laepe facility.

With the whole operation, the company has been able to maintain producing quality and consistent products.

Looking ahead to 2016, things continue to look exciting for Davidoff as it has stated healthy product pipeline and will continue to deliver more in the way of innovation.