Plain Packaging Cigars in Canada FYI.

[helix]

Packaging Cigars: What You Need to Know

The Government of Canada has recently put into effect a law that requires all cigars to be put into plain packaging. You’ve seen plain packaging with cigarettes for years, but as of November 9, 2020, it applies to cigars as well. And retailers throughout Canada only have until May 8, 2021 to comply with the new legislation.

What is Plain Packaging?

Plain packaging is a generic and standardized packaging that is devoid of branding. The plain packaging will include only the brand name of the cigar, health warnings and other legally required information. 

Generic packaging, however, does not mean you are getting generic cigars. If you order a Cuban cigar, you will be getting an authentic Cuban cigar. 

 

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What Does Plain Packaging Look Like?

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What Products Does Plain Packaging Apply To?

Plain packaging apples to boxes, singles and tubos cigars. In fact, it applies to all tobacco products intended for sale in Canada, including (as defined by the Government of Canada), “duty-free shops, trans-border stores, ships’ stores, and to Canadian tobacco products sold in duty-free stores.”

Who Has to Follow Plain Packaging Legislation?

Every retailer in Canada. 

Possible Guarantee Complications—And What We’re Doing About Them

Plain packaging law is specific to Canada. As such, official Habanos manufacturers are not set up for verifying their product with new Canadian barcode stamps instead of the traditional cuban stamps. 

Authenticity Check

The Seal of Guarantee of the Republic of Cuba appears on all Habanos packages. This seal has two security elements that will allow you to verify the authenticity of the product. A hologram and a bar code.

The hologram is located on the right side of the seal and the barcode on the left side, very close to the shield or cote d armas The barcode will be personalized every package.

http://72.137.204.14:8026/assets/images/billete-habanos.jpg

This label is always placed on the upper left side of the box or display, leaving 3 to 6 mm from the edge and folding over the middle of the shield where possible, as shown.

http://72.137.204.14:8026/assets/images/ejemplo-sello-caja.jpg

This seal is made up of synthetic paper and with special features, such as:

• Non-transferable label. An auto-destructive feature, any attempt of removal will cause it to be voided by destruction.
• Highly adherence (plastic) paper.
• Scan and Photocopy Protected System.
• The holographic stripe will show two-colour text in both 2D and 3D.
• Optically variable elements.
• Microdots visible only through scanner.

On the other hand, the unique barcode will be applied on every single box and would be registered. This allows the identification of all our products everywhere, as well as the information associated with them.

In these pages, some tools are provided for checking and verifying the legitimacy of the Habanos.

Click on the Verify button follow the instructions.

 

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The Big Concerns with Plain Packaging

Cost. Cigars are actually more expensive with plain packaging as manufacturers need to design and print separate packaging just for Canada. This cost gets passed down the supply chain to distributors and customers.

Availability. Because of the specifics needed just for Canada. Which is a small market for cigars worldwide. Some cigar companies will choose not to distribute to Canada as it may not be profitable for them.

Verifying Authenticity. As already mentioned, manufacturers are not set to verify the cigars authenticity at the moment. 

Statement from Havana House

Dear Valued Customers, Over the last month we have started receiving our cigars in plain packaging and shipping them out to retail stores. We have received lots of feedback about the new plain packaging and understand those concerns and frustrations. Unfortunately implementing plain packaging during the pandemic and in Cuba has come with huge challenges and many limitations. Unfortunately because we cannot produce the plain packaging in Cuba due to packaging production limitations there, we have to produce the packaging internationally and ship it to Cuba. This key factor means that we cannot use wood or rigid boxes and have to use boxes that are folded flat. If we used rigid boxes we would have to ship and store over 100 pallets of packaging, this is impossible as it is extremely costly and would drive the price up exponentially. Another challenge we face is that the cigar factories in Cuba are not currently able to support plain packaging for the global market, so the cigars must be unpacked from their original packaging and banded and repacked for the Canadian market. We understand that factories in other countries are able to do the plain packaging for Canada at the factory level, but this is not the case in Cuba. Minimizing damages and keeping losses down were a significant concern for us in the development and implementation of plain packaging. Our research and development of the plain packaging showed us that damages would be less in these folded flat boxes providing the boxes are packed in a specific way, which our warehouse team is ensuring. In fact now that the cigars are being opened and repacked in Cuba we are able to inspect all the cigars for damage before they ship to Canada. We know that the packaging is not ideal, nothing about plain packaging is, and given the limitations faced this was the best solution available. We thank you for your understanding and continued support .

 

[El Presidente]

8 hours ago, helix said:

 We know that the packaging is not ideal, nothing about plain packaging is, and given the limitations faced this was the best solution available. We thank you for your understanding and continued support .

Well said. My heart goes out to all affected.