Davidoffis a Swiss premiumbrandofcigars,cigarettesand smoker's accessories. The Davidoff cigarette brand has been owned byImperial Brandsafter purchasing it in 2006.[1]The non-cigarette portion of the Davidoff tobacco brand is owned by Oettinger Davidoff AG, which is based inBasel,Switzerland.[2]
 | |
| Industry | Tobacco |
|---|---|
| Founder | Zino Davidoff |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Cigarsand smoker's accessories |
| Owner | Oettinger Davidoff AG |
| Website | davidoff |
| Footnotes / references Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 | |
Oettinger Davidoff AG manufacturescigars,cigarillos, pipe tobaccos and smoker's accessories under the brands Davidoff, Camacho and Zino Platinum. The cigars are produced in the Dominican Republic and Honduras, and tobacco is sourced from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Honduras and the United States of America.[3]
Name
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Thebrand nameDavidoff originates from the surname of itsSwiss-Jewish-born founder, Zino Davidoff (born Sussele-Meier Davidoff; 1906,Novhorod-Siverskyi– 1994, Geneva),[4]who ran a tobacco specialist shop inGeneva,Switzerland, from 1926 to 1994.[5]He was known as the "King of Cigars".[6]
History
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After the Second World War, Zino Davidoff decided to acquire a licence to produce his own series of cigars.[5]As he had discerning international customers, he named the various formats of this "Château" cigar series after famousBordeauxvineyard estates. The first in the series was the "Château Latour" in 1946.
In 1967, Zino Davidoff was approached byCubatabaco,Cuba's state tobacco monopoly, about creating a line of cigars carrying the "Davidoff" name. The cigars were rolled in the newly establishedEl Laguito factoryinHavana,which had been established to roll Cuban PresidentFidel Castro's own personal cigars, namedCohíba.
In 1968, the first cigars carrying the name "Davidoff" were released. The first formats were the No. 1, the No. 2 and the Ambassadrice. In 1970, Oettinger AG, located inBasel,Switzerland, acquired the rights to the Davidoff trademark.
In 1971, the Davidoff "MiniCigarillos"(short fillers made of 100% tobacco) and, in 1972, the first Davidoff pipe tobaccos were released. As of 1975, the cigars of the Château series were delivered in cabinets bearing the Davidoff logo.
In 1976, the "Mille Series" and, in 1977, the “Dom Pérignon” cigar, named after the champagne, were released. In 1986, a limited release of "Anniversario" cigars were produced, to celebrate Zino Davidoff's 80th birthday.
TheZino Davidoff Groupwasspun outof Davidoff in 1980[7]to exclusively market non-tobaccoluxury goodssuch as watches, leather goods, pens, fragrances, eyewear,coffee,andcognac.[8]Public healthresearchers have suggested that this was in order to engage in trademark diversification (also known as "brand stretching") to promote the tobacco products, because it allows for advertising the brand in the face of restrictions on the directpromotion of tobacco products.[9][10]
After numerous disputes over quality and ownership rights, Zino Davidoff and Cubatabaco decided to end their relationship. Leading up to this, in August 1989, Zino had publicly burned over one hundred thousand cigars that he had deemed of low quality and unfit to sell. All Davidoff products produced in Cuba were officially discontinued in 1991. An agreement was signed that no more Davidoff cigars from Cuba would be sold.
In 1990, after discontinuing Cuban-made products, Davidoff started to produce cigars in theDominican Republic.After numerous test runs, Zino Davidoff found a partner in the local producer “Tabadom”, owned by Hendrik Kelner.
In 1991, the first Dominican-made Davidoff cigars were launched, continuing the product lines and cigar formats of their Cuban predecessors. With the move to the Dominican Republic, the Château series was renamed "Grand Cru", and the individual formats were numbered instead of carrying the names of vineyard estates.
In 1991, the limited release called "Aniversario" became an ongoing cigar series, called the "Aniversario" series. In 1992, the "Special" cigar series was released, with the format "Special R" as the first product. In 1994, the 87-year-old Zino Davidoff died in Geneva, Switzerland.
Cigarettes
editImperial Brandshas owned the Davidoff cigarettebrand namesince purchasing it in 2006.[1]
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^abImperial Tobacco buys Davidoff brand
- ^"We Build Brands | Oettinger Davidoff Group".oettingerdavidoff.Retrieved2017-10-04.
- ^"Davidoff Cigars | Cigar Maker | Zino Davidoff".Davidoff Cigars.Retrieved2017-10-04.
- ^"Zino Davidoff; 'King of Cigars'".Los Angeles Times.17 January 1994.
- ^abWirtz, Dieter H. (2006).Davidoff - Legend, Myth, Reality.Berlin: Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH.
- ^Los Angeles Times(Jan 17, 1994)."Zino Davidoff; 'King of Cigars'".Los Angeles Times.
- ^Di Lenardo, Patrick (February 8, 2015)."Icône du luxe, Davidoff lance sa marque de montres".ArcInfo.RetrievedOctober 20,2019.
- ^"Zino Davidoff SA official website".ZinoDavidoff.Retrieved9 July2015.
- ^Wen CP, Chen T, Tsai YY, Tsai SP, Chung WS, Cheng TY, Levy DT, Hsu CC, Peterson R, Liu WY (June 2005)."Are marketing campaigns in Taiwan by foreign tobacco companies targeting young smokers?".Tobacco Control.14(Suppl 1): i38-44.doi:10.1136/tc.2004.007971.PMC1766177.PMID15923447.
- ^Huong LT, Long TK, Van Anh TT, Tuyet-Hanh TT, Giang KB, Hai PT, Huyen DT, Khue LN, Lam NT, Nga PQ, Quan NT, Linh TN, Ha NT, Van Minh H (October 2017)."Tobacco Advertising, Promotion Among the Adult Population in Vietnam and Its Implications for Public Health".Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health.29(7):569–579.doi:10.1177/1010539517735630.PMID29037054.S2CID4872399.Retrieved20 October2019.
Further reading
edit- Min Ron Nee,An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars(2003, Reprinted: 2005).
- James Suckling, "In Search of Davidoffs: Connoisseurs are Buying Up Stocks of the Swiss Cigar Maker's Discontinued Havanas,"Cigar Aficionado,vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn 1993), pp. 46–55.
- Dieter H. Wirtz,Davidoff - Legend, Myth, Reality,Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin 2006
External links
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- Official website
(may be inaccessible for UK and French internet users because UK and French legislation bans tobacco advertising and promotion) - Oettinger Davidoff AG– company website