Factory Per Diem Tradition/Policy Question

[Doctorossi]

Are there any Cuban factory anoraks out there who can help me with a question?

I've been curious for a long time about what tobacco goes into per diems. Do torcedors use stock of whatever blend they're rolling on the day to make them or is there other stock set aside specifically for this purpose? Is it maybe lot-ends that aren't big enough to do anything else with or lower-graded leaves that don't make the cut for commercial production?

Is there any insight out there?

[NSXCIGAR]

I don't believe the rollers would be given anything but whatever leaf is in the recipe for what they're rolling. And they only have the molds for what vitola they're working on. Whatever extra or per diem should be the cigar they're rolling that day blended the same. 

IIRC per diem has been very limited for quite a while--like 20 years. If I'm not mistaken it used to be whatever you could carry out of the factory on your person. Now it's like two or three cigars. 

[Corylax18]

3 hours ago, Doctorossi said:

Are there any Cuban factory anoraks out there who can help me with a question?

I've been curious for a long time about what tobacco goes into per diems. Do torcedors use stock of whatever blend they're rolling on the day to make them or is there other stock set aside specifically for this purpose? Is it maybe lot-ends that aren't big enough to do anything else with or lower-graded leaves that don't make the cut for commercial production?

Is there any insight out there?

I don't think most of us will ever know the true volume of cigars that "sneak out the back door". The official rule is 5 cigars a day, but the official rules are only there to be broken in Cuba. 

I've been offered cigars for sale straight from the rolling table on Factory tours before. Literally right out of the wood trays they use to move them around the factory. I've never done that, but I have purchased literally thousands of cigars from this system before. 

I don't know most of the details and I don't need to, but even during the busiest travel times the rollers cant sell their 5 cigars 5 days a week to tourists. Far fewer rollers/factory employees actually smoke than people might realize. It would be stupid for all these rollers to just leave their cigars sitting on the table at the end of every day. They would literally be leaving money on the table.

Say they can get 2 bucks a piece, that's 50 dollars a week, most rollers make around 25 a month official salary. An extra 200 a month goes a LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG way in Cuba. Say a factory has about 100 rollers, that's 2500 cigars a week. Say they sell for an average of 7 a piece. That's $17,500 a week/$70k a month. Not insignificant money. Plenty of these cigars are sold on the island, some make it to Facebook and other groups, others are sold through avenues I'm probably not even aware of. 

The numbers above are if everyone is following the rules, which they definitely aren't. This black market economy(not just in Cigars) is what keeps the island alive. Its part of why the last year plus have been such a nightmare down there. The countless avenues for foreign currency to enter and sustain the economy have been cutoff almost completely.

The Cuban government has been excellent at "letting off steam" or keeping the country's issues at a simmer. This type of backroom dealing happens in every industry in the country and helps keep people "content" at least. The joke in Cuba is "you choose your job based on what you can steal." You can steal a very valuable asset if you work in the cigar industry. 

[Bijan]

@Corylax18 so you're saying that guy on the beach did get those cigars from his brother who's a roller at El Laguito 😂

[Corylax18]

9 minutes ago, Bijan said:

@Corylax18 so you're saying that guy on the beach did get those cigars from his brother who's a roller at El Laguito 😂

Haha. I wouldn't go quite that far. There was a pretty well established market/distribution system established before things hit the fan. Pricing was steady (but rising)

There was/is very little incentive for this type of "black market" cigar to make it all the way to the beach in a glasstop. There wouldn't be any room for profit. 😄

[NSXCIGAR]

55 minutes ago, Bijan said:

 so you're saying that guy on the beach did get those cigars from his brother who's a roller at El Laguito

We laugh today, but before the reforms around 2000 a lot of cigars were leaving through the back door. There actually were brothers of rollers selling boxes on the beach, so to speak. There were also a lot of fakes. But the chance was fair you could get a legit box of CoRo for $100 if you knew your stuff. 

Now, things don't "leave" the factory like they did then and rollers can't fill every pocket with cigars when they clock out. 

1 hour ago, Corylax18 said:

I've been offered cigars for sale straight from the rolling table on Factory tours before. Literally right out of the wood trays they use to move them around the factory. I've never done that, but I have purchased literally thousands of cigars from this system before. 

I believe within the factory cigars are pretty loose. Not sure it's changed but the rollers were allowed to consume an unlimited number while working and plenty don't smoke, so a few to tourists here or there is probably normal. 

[Nevrknow]

I actually just met an el laquito torcedor on a totally un related social media platform today. I will quiz them.