1 on 1 With Moulay Omar Zahraoui the Founder of Morocco’s Biggest Cigar Factory Habanos S.A
How many Habanos S.A brands are in the market? As of now, there are 17 brands and 3-4 more are to be launched really soon. How close are you to the agricultural end of the cigar business?
Born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco, Moulay Omar Zahraoui works for the development of their company Habanos S.A and to maintain the standards of quality. At 29 years old he spends most of his time in the kingdom of Morocco at Habanos S.A factory or on the farms, where all of the tobacco for Habanos S.A cigars is grown.
Whose ideas are behind the Concept and design of Habanos S.A’s brands?Most of the brands are created between me and my father as a team.
How many Habanos S.A brands are in the market? As of now, there are 17 brands and 3-4 more are to be launched really soon. How close are you to the agricultural end of the cigar business?
My role is primarily at the factory, but I do, of course, visit the farm frequently where I meet the experts that we have brought from Dominican Republic to form the Moroccan farmers who plant the tobacco.
Where are your farms located, and how do you obtain tobacco?
Our tobacco is grown at our own farms in north of Morocco by more than 500 farmers in the area of about 120 hectares. Your cigars are distributed by more than 20,000 distributors. How do you maintain your relationship them?
We offer a payment facility of $1 million to our distributors in different countries. How would you say Habanos S.A cigars have changed in the last 5 years?
In almost every way possible. When it comes to manufacturing, the standards of quality have remained the same but the tobaccos, blending style, branding, etc., have all evolved quite a bit.