Fall 98 Volume III Issue 4

by Daniel Mickelsen

EVRYONE KNOWS THAT WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE’S FIRE. AND, AS WE’VE ALL BEEN TAUGHT, WHEN WE SEE OR SMELL SMOKE, NEVER OPEN A DOOR WITHOUT FIRST FEELING IT FOR HEAT. UPON LANDING IN MANAGUA, THE CREW OF THE PLANE EVIDENTLY FORGOT THIS IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP AND BlITH1I.Y FLUNG OPEN THE DOORS Of OUR CRAFT. I AMBLED DOWN THE STEPS TO THE TARMAC AND WAS PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED BY THE HEAT OF NICARAGUA. MY SKIN THREATENED TO COMBUST AND I WORRIED THAT I WOULD SOON BE ENGULFED IN FLAMES. THERE WAS ONE VERY IMPORTANT LESSON I LEARNED FROM THESE INITIAL HARROWING MOMENTS ADRIFT IN AIR JUST COOLER THAN MAGMA:

IT IS GOOD TO KNOW KIKI ...

JUST AS I HAD BEGUN TO REALLY FEAR WADING THROUGH THE MANAGUA CUSTOMS IN ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS OF THIS KIND, MY COMRADE AND I WERE WHISKED INTO AN AIR-CONDITIONED WAITING ROOM, WHERE WE SAT IN BIG, PADDED CHAIRS AND WERE POLITELY OFFERED BEVERAGES, AS VARIOUS PEOPLE TOOK OUR PASSPORTS AND WANDERED OFF WITH THEM. IN SPITE OF THE SICK FEELING I ALWAYS GET WHEN MY PASSPORT LEAVES THE ROOM WITHOUT ME, I WAS CERTAIN I WOULD BE CONTENT TO SIT IN THE AIR-CONDITIONED SPLENDOR OF THE MANAGUA AIRPORT VIP LOUNGE FOR AS LONG AS IT TOOK FOR WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING TO MY PAPERS. THE NEXT ICE AGE SEEMED A GOOD TIME FOR ANOTHER VENTURE OUT OF DOORS ...

Henry "Kiki" Berger looks entirely comfortable when he strolls along the cobbled streets of Esteli; he exudes the confidence of someone at ease with his own place in the environs. Spend an afternoon with him, wandering the town, and you will be convinced he knows, and is liked by, everyone. Those who know Kiki from other places and other times would not be surprised by this. In a town which, in spite of its ragged appearance, has been the site of some of the most belligerent political and military happenings in the nation's recent history, there are a number of figures who wield considerable power. Kiki may not be the "King of Esteli," but he is certainly the "Earl," spreading his influence with his easy charm and deft maneuverings.

He has attained this status in a remarkably short year and a half. But this speaks more of experience than the pliability of the unrefined Nicaraguan town. Born in Cuba, Kiki moved to America with his family when he was a boy. In Miami, he entered the charged political environment peopled by displaced Cubans, where he worked for various candidates and causes from boyhood on. The political potency of this group allowed Kiki to learn at the highest level, and to make significant connections. By adulthood, Kiki was running campaigns in Florida and nationally. The business card Kiki hands out, for Gran Fabrica de Tabaco Mundial (GRAFATAM), or World Cigars, Inc., as it is known in the States, lists only Cigar Factories Operations to explain what he does. This is modesty for one who operates on levels most Central American cigar makers have never seen.

Kiki and several other investors, including U.S. State Senator (FL) Alberto Gutman (who was enticed into public office by Kiki, his boyhood friend), were encouraged to open their factory in Nicaragua, instead of Honduras, by the president of the country, who promised tax incentives. Esteli, in proof of this pledge, is now in the process of becoming a "free zone." When you are Kiki Berger, this is the type of action you expect.

Another element which made Esteli an attractive locale for World Cigars was the location of TAINSA, the tobacco cooperative, in the same town. Kiki and his partners worked from the beginning to establish a strong working relationship with TAINSA, building trust and laying a groundwork for the future. This relationship led to a major opportunity for World Cigars, which eventually became one of the partners in TAINSA by investing in the cooperative. This came at a good time for both companies, as TAINSA needed an infusion of funds to continue improving and expanding the infrastructure of their tobacco growing operations, and World Cigar needed a guaranteed supply of quality tobacco in a competitive and booming market.

As times, and the market, have changed, this partnership has become one of the important means through which World Cigars will survive. In addition to the solid U.S. based funding behind World Cigars, the steady and reliable flow of material from TAINSA ensures that World is able to offer quality, regardless of the market conditions. As a number of major factories in Esteli sit with doors shut and chairs stacked on rolling tables, World has been able to suspend the production of their own brands, but continues producing for clients. Kiki sees their strengths in the guaranteed ease of doing business with World Cigars. "Where would you go, if you want a cigar made?" asks Kiki.

"You want to go to the guy that has the material, that is a serious company with a future, and you don't have to worry about getting the tobacco - we've got it all for you."

Kiki is content to wait for the market to stabilize, and is involved with enough quality brands to maintain a presence as others contract. Their own brand, 5 Vegas (which harks back to a story of five separate cigar makers who brought the produce of their farms together to make a single cigar, and doesn't, in spite of what you might think, have anything to do with Nevada's glorious destination), exhibits all the characteristics that make quality Nicaraguan cigars classic smokes, and represents 65% of World Cigars production. The rest is in private label, of which there are about 60 brands. Though that sounds like a lot, it is down from well over 100 brands during the boom.

One such brand, and one of the only brands being made in all of Esteli during our visit, is Cupido Cigars, which entered a saturated market at the end of 1996 with little more than a frilly logo. Two of the general partners in Cupido Cigars, Yossi Kviatkovsky and Dixi Monaco, were in Esteli to subject Kiki's produce to a rather unique process of quality checking. Yossi smokes, Dixi smells. They do this because, as former traders in non-perishable goods in Central and South America, they admit they weren't born into the tobacco industry. But involved they've become, and discovered that, with Yossi's taste and Dixi's nose, the end result is cigar good enough to develop a network of new retail accounts in a world of shrinking opportunities.

Beyond their uncommon but functional method of crafting, the simple inelegance of which must be witnessed to be fully appreciated, Cupido has taken an international business acumen and applied it to the cigar market. They offer only two sizes, a churchill and a robusto, with a third of their own conception on the way, an abbreviated shaped offering they are calling the "torpito." As Yossi points out, even in the most crowded of cigar retailers, "there is always room for just one more box."

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