Robert Holt gives such an accurate and heartfelt depiction of the longterm detrimental effects of the FDA interference on the cigar industry in this article by Cigar & Spirits Magazine I couldn't help but share this and hope that you all take the time to read through this article, especially the last paragraph. Very well done Robert. Thank you for sharing your insight from a different perspective. From someone that has seen the industry in these different regions first hand and has a lot of friends employed outside the U.S. these words really hit home for me.
By: Robert Holt
Initial comments regarding the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) plans to regulate deemed tobacco products. These are my personal thoughts and not reflective of those of the Company or the industry as a whole.
Southern Draw Cigars is a relative newcomer to the industry and only represents a small fraction of a percent of the estimated 300 million premium cigars imported to the US annually, the consequences of the FDA’s broad brush stroke could and likely would end in our dissolution. Family, friends, partners (including media and lifestyle publications) and customers will all be adversely impacted where all we have invested in and worked toward may be gone in a relative blink of an eye. The process for approval, the additional costs and administrative oversight while still unclear, are probably more than we or any moderately sized manufacturer could accommodate and the associated risks of compliance would logically deter future investments we would need to continue our growth.
