Cubacigar Benelux N.V. Sues Dutch Government Over Packaging Limitations
The Dutch distributor of Cuban cigars has sued its country’s government over an upcoming change in packaging restrictions.
On July 1, cigar boxes in the Netherlands will be subject to new restrictions that require neutral packaging, specifically limiting the use of metallic foils and embossing. Cubacigar Benelux N.V. says the new rules will cause severe damage to its business, as Habanos S.A. will not create new packaging just for the region. This means that the Cuban cigar conglomerate will ship the cigars in prohibited packaging to the distributor’s headquarters in Overijse, Belgium, where the distributor would have to throw out the existing packaging and replace it with compliant packaging.
In an interview with De Telegraaf, the company said that it is particularly concerned about the sales of limited edition cigars, which account for 25 percent of its revenue and 40 percent of the revenue of the country’s La Casa del Habano stores.
Cubacigar Benelux N.V. is the distributor of Cuban cigars in Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands.
Charlie Minato
I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.
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