Cuba’s Cigar Company Names First Female Co-President
Habanos S.A. has a new co-president, Maritza Carrillo González, and the move marks the first time that role has been held by a woman.
Carrillo González has a great deal of experience around cigars, both inside and outside of Cuba. A member of the Habanos board of directors, she spent six years as marketing director and head of Havanesa stores at Empor S.A., the distributor of Cuban cigars in Portugal, later served as president of Spain’s Comercial Iberoamericana S.A. (COIBA) then general manager of Tabagest S.A.
“She has great experience of our business particularly from the commercial
and marketing side,” Fernando Domínguez, president and chief executive
officer of Tabacalera S.L.U., told Cigar Aficionado. Tabacalera owns half of
Habanos.
She has replaced Inocente Núñez Blanco, who has retired, and will run
Habanos alongside Luis Sánchez-Harguindey Pardo de Vera. Núñez was
named co-president in early 2015, while Sánchez-Harguindey has been in the role since December 2012. The roles have long been split, with a person from the Spanish side and a person from the Cuban side.
Earlier this month, Leopoldo Cintra González was replaced as commercial
vice-president of Habanos by Jorge Pérez Martel, who has around 40 years of experience, including running Cuba’s Casa del Habano stores and as president of Coprova, the distributor of Cuban cigars in France and Monaco.
The management moves come just before the start of Cuba’s Habanos Festival, the massive gathering of cigar retailers and distributors from around the world. The weeklong festival kicks off on Monday.
