Cigaro Toscano, 25 million supply chain agreement

A new agreement worth approximately 25 million euros per year to strengthen and give continuity to the Italian Kentucky tobacco supply chain. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (Masaf) and Manifatture Sigaro Toscano (Mst) renewed the memorandum of understanding in Lucca a few days ago, sanctioning a multi-year commitment in favour of one of the most identifiable crops of Made in Italy.

Compared to previous agreements, the current agreement has a time horizon of ten years, up to 2034-35, and provides for the annual purchase of at least 2,200 tonnes of Kentucky tobacco grown in Italy, with an estimated value of approximately EUR 250 million over ten years.

The signing of the agreement took place in the presence of Masaf Undersecretary Patrizio Giacomo La Pietra, Mst CEO Stefano Mariotti and the presidents of the main Italian tobacco associations.

'The agreement signed,' commented Masaf Undersecretary Patrizio La Pietra, 'is fully in line with the initiatives on which the ministry is working in every sector of agriculture and which, on the instructions of Minister Lollobrigida, we are promoting in order to guarantee certainty for all the components of the various agricultural sectors. Giving certainty to farmers in economic terms and in terms of duration, even ten years as in this case, allows small and medium-sized companies in particular to be able to plan their activities and production investments, to the benefit of workers and the future of the tobacco supply chain".

"Since 2013, Manifatture Sigaro Toscano," added MST CEO Stefano Mariotti, "has signed multi-year commitments with the ministry; with today's agreement, which has, for the first time, a ten-year duration, we want to give a clear and strong signal on the centrality of our Italian tobacco industry. Over the past few years, we have launched 4.0 agriculture projects, support for generational change, and investments to improve the production and quality of tobacco companies. We want to continue to provide certainty in terms of employment, territorial protection and product quality. Our goal is to ensure, through a short and entirely Italian supply chain, the quality of our cigars and the sustainability of our production system'.