Five million euros. This is the contribution foreseen by Manifatture Sigaro Toscano (Mst) in response to the increases in the costs of raw materials and production (fertilizers, energy, diesel) which are added to annual tobacco purchases for an amount of approximately 16 million euros.
Once again Mst takes the field alongside the growers of the Kentucky tobacco supply chain in the face of the new crisis scenario The agreements on the purchase prices of Kentucky tobacco for the 2022 season have also been defined with the associations of the Agricooper tobacco producers – Aprotab – Opta – Atic – Ont (Coldiretti) – Arpt – Apc. Mst intervenes on tariffs and supplementary contracts to support the sustainability of a sector in severe crisis, demonstrating – explains a company note – the great attention paid to a niche supply chain in Europe, and at a local level, but of fundamental importance. for the Italian quality production of Tuscan brand cigars. The Kentucky supply chain is in fact a very important reality of Made in Italy: 2,000 employees, about 200 family businesses, over 1,300 hectares cultivated in Italy, especially in Tuscany, lower Lazio, Campania and in some areas of Veneto and Umbria.
In recent years the sector has been hit several times by various adversities and already last year Mst had foreseen, in addition to the normal tariffs, an additional contribution to farmers to ensure a guaranteed minimum income. The total investment of Mst for the purchase of the 2021 harvest exceeded 18 million euros, important resources that contribute to making this precious supply chain profitable. “We are proud to be able to guarantee the sustainability and income security of our growers, who are our most important stakeholders and whose personal and family stories we know – explains the managing director of Manifatture Sigaro Toscano, Stefano Mariotti – In such a phase complicated, which is added to a context in which this cultivation is no longer supported by Community aid, we thus give a strong signal of closeness, with an approach that satisfies both parties and which we hope will always be fruitful and guarantee long-term sustainability for this important and unique supply chain “.
For Manifatture Sigaro Toscano, the current agreement is only the latest in a path undertaken for some time. Already last July, on the occasion of the visit of Undersecretary Gian Marco Centinaio to the Manifattura di Lucca, a table was opened on the Kentucky tobacco supply chain, together with the sector associations, to weave a model of cooperation that allows to “create a system “on the cultivation of Kentucky tobacco in Italy, otherwise at risk of not being sustainable.