Oliva Tobacco

Oliva: [He makes a face.] Oliva Tobacco is over 60 years old. I believe this is because of honesty, loyalty and integrity. This is the way people want to be treated, and this is how we believe it should be. I am proud to say I have been successful in passing this to my children. How I built my past is how I build the future. Question: In 1944, your brothers Martin and Marcellino joined the company. What happened from there? Oliva: In 1945, I created a subsidiary company in Cuba with two close, talented and loyal friends, Miguel Foyo and Jose Manuel "Pepin" Gonzalez. This is when things took off for us. Question: What was the name of the company, and why in Cuba? Oliva: Ninety-five percent of the tobacco we handled came from Cuba. We knew we could market large amounts of Cuban wrappers and fillers from the San Luis area of Cuba, especially the candela (green) wrapper, which was becoming very popular. So we formed Excelsior Tobacco Company. Question: So Excelsior Tobacco was actually a brokerage company?