04/03/2021 – 10:48 am (GMT-4)
The “monetary order”. That is according to Amed Alvarez Tejo, Director of Sales and Marketing Cuba of the Havana Club company, that all products of that brand disappeared from the establishments on the island in February.
Rum, that was one of them ubiquitous products in Cuban markets (to the point that some of them complained about it last year it was the only thing that appeared on the counters) also underwent the same food lot, and started to run out as soon as the new year started.
The mistake, according to Álvarez, was the “negotiations that we necessarily had to do with customers to set the new prices in CUP, which resulted in a shortage”.
Despite the flawed planning shown in his statements, the official also assured that “we are already at the stage where we can guarantee productive support in both the MLC and CUC stores, it is something we have developed as a marketing strategy.”
“We are supplying the market and sales volumes are gradually recovering,” he added.
Investigated by the journalist from the official media Cubadebate Regarding possible production problems, Álvarez replied that it is not the production of the rum plants that has been affected. “We have production in the rum mills and even foresee that there could be excessive demand from the population,” he said.
In November last year the company reported that it had decided to withdraw the plastic dispenser introduced into products such as the Havana Club Añejo Blanco, the Havana Club Añejo 3 años and the Havana Club Añejo Especial, due to delays in the arrival of the essential raw material to make this part in Cuba.
According to Sergio Valdés, director of market development at Havana Club, rum production is the priority of the Cuban authorities at a press conference last year.
Havana Club’s exports are growing and the product has consolidated its presence in new markets such as China, where it increased sales by 20% in 2019.
All Cuban rum is marketed on the national and international markets. Havana Club concentrates the largest production and claims to be the third most important brand in the world in the marketing of spirits.
The San José rum factory, southeast of Havana, produces Havana Club dark liqueurs. The machines work non-stop filling, labeling and sealing thousands of bottles of Añejo Especial, Añejo Reserva, 7 years, Selección de Maestros and other varieties of the brand.
Havana Club Internacional is a joint venture between the Cuban state-owned company Cuba Ron and the French giant Pernod Ricard, which owns other well-known labels such as Absolut or Chivas.
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