Toscano cigars: the supply chain is being strengthened. Cultivated area and businesses are on the rise

The Italian agricultural sector producing Toscano cigars is growing: between 2020 and 2026, the area under cultivation increased by 29 per cent and the number of growers involved rose by 33 per cent. And the value of production per hectare paid to growers has almost doubled in five years (+93 per cent).

In this context, Manifatture Sigaro Toscano (MST) – in which a majority stake is held by companies controlled by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who has been chairman since 2018, and Piero Gnudi – is consolidating its leading role in the international supply chain for Kentucky Dark Fire-Cured tobacco, confirming its position as the only Italian company of industrial scale and one of the world’s leading operators in terms of procurement volumes of this variety. The company has also recorded growth: turnover rose from 116 million in 2021 to 143.2 in 2025; exports, which stood at 23.6 million, have reached 52.4. It currently employs 450 people in Italia, has a subsidiary in the US and three sites worldwide.

Following the decline recorded in the two-year period 2021–2022, the Toscano cigar sector has been on a path of steady growth since 2023. “We experienced several years of slight decline,” explains Stefano Mariotti, CEO of MST, “following the Covid-19 pandemic, agricultural businesses faced financial difficulties that prevented them from getting back on their feet as they would have liked. Many of them needed to invest in technology and facilitate generational succession. We capitalised on these needs to revitalise the sector.” These are not market-related issues, therefore, but rather a contraction in the supply of the raw material: the prestigious Kentucky tobacco.

In 2023, the new supply contracts – signed by MST with the sector’s main trade associations – will come into effect, ensuring ever-better remuneration for agricultural produce, as well as support for businesses on investment projects in technological innovation and in managing the handover from father to son. To support the supply chain (which employs a total of 3,000 agricultural workers), MST has introduced a multi-tiered subsidy scheme linked to production performance and cultivated areas, supplemented by an advance payment of 50 per cent of the value of the supplies to ensure greater financial stability for farms, and a bonus for young farmers who choose to continue the family business. Farms that supply their tobacco to MST can also access digital technologies, IoT (Internet of Things) systems and artificial intelligence solutions to improve production efficiency and the sustainability of their crops. By 2025, the use of these tools had led, amongst other achievements, to a 10 per cent reduction in water consumption. Zero-interest bank loans are also available for businesses interested in investing in increased production capacity and productivity.

 The increase in prices paid to growers and the subsidy scheme introduced by MST have made the processing of Kentucky tobacco attractive once again, encouraging farms to rejoin the supply chain with Manifatture Sigaro Toscano and supporting the expansion of cultivated areas.In 2026, the area under cultivation and under contract with MST reached 1,533 hectares, compared with 1,190 in 2020, representing a 29 per cent increase. The number of growers involved also increased, rising from 178 farms in 2020 to 237 in 2026, a rise of 33 per cent. The value of production per hectare (PLV), including the supplements paid by MST to growers, rose from around €8,130 per hectare in 2020 to over €15,660 in 2025, representing a 93 per cent increase.