Altadis U.S.A. Raising Prices, Cites FDA

Add Altadis U.S.A. to the list of cigar companies who will raise prices because of the associated costs of new regulations by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

“Keeping you and your customers’ best interest in mind, we continuously do our best to absorb increasing costs whenever possible,” said Brad Winstead, vp of sales for Altadis U.S.A., in a letter sent to retailers. “The attached revised  pricing on select items offsets a portion of new FDA-associated regulatory expenses along with the on-going rising costs of new materials, manufacturing and logistics.”

The new prices take effect Nov. 1.

A nearly 350 SKU-long price list shows changes on almost every cigar with pricing rising 4.26 percent on average and generally 2-10 percent specifically. As with new price lists for any company of this size, a few items are no longer listed including the Casa de Garcia Magnum and Colossal lines, Casa de Garcia Red, Primo del Rey Maduro, Warlock and the HAVOC lines for Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta.

It remains unclear whether those items are discontinued or if they are just being removed from the price lists offered to brick and mortar retailers.

Altadis U.S.A. is one of the largest premium cigars in the U.S. with the flagship brands of Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta as well as others like Butera, Casa De Garcia, Don Diego, Don Mateo, Disport, H. Upmman, Henry Clay, Juan Lopez, Las Cabrillas, Omar Ortez, Onyx, Primo del Rey, Saint Luis Rey, Seijas, Te-Amo, Trinidad and VegaFina.

This is the second price increase for the year for Altadis U.S.A. Raising prices twice in one year was almost non-exist, but many larger companies have announced a second price increase due to the new FDA regulations that went into effect Aug. 8.

Altadis U.S.A joins Davidoff, General Cigar Co. and Rocky Patel Premium Cigars as companies that have increased prices a second time due to FDA regulation.