In fall 2017 REAL TOBACCO SA was established with main scope of activities cigarettes’ production with an exclusive export orientation.
Shareholders of the company are REAL TOBACCO TRADING FZE a UAE based entity providing consultation and asset management services and OPENMARK BULGARIA LTD a Bulgarian based entity dealing with design, marketing, brand creation and development, as well as project management in the fields of F&B and tobacco products.
Company headquarters are at Kilkis, North Greece and the production unit covers a 30,000 sq.m. area, located on a privately owned site of 100,000 sq.m. REAL TOBACCO bought the facilities from the international tobacco collection and processing SOCOTAB company and carried out a radical modernization of it, which today presents one of the most modern state-of-the-art factories worldwide, directly connected to the supply chain of the port of Thessaloniki, from where almost exclusively its products are exported having at the same time direct access to the ports of Piraeus and Igoumenitsa and to the international logistics corridors of the Balkan hinterland.
The entire cigarette manufacturing equipment and auxiliary machinery comes from the sector’s leading companies in Italy and Germany. It should be underlined that especially the Nano-type cigarette production lines were the first put into production on a global level.
Today the company is active in the so-called secondary production, i.e. in the production of cigarettes following to the import of raw material (cut rugs of its own choice), soon proceeding to full verticalization through the development of primary production, i.e. in-house processing of tobacco leaves. Rest raw materials, such as filters, packaging materials, etc., are imported from the best companies in Europe, while the basic raw material (blends) is basically imported from third non EU countries.
Total investment up today amounts 85.000.000 Euros fully covered by investor’s equity, without any bank financing or any type of investment incentives. The planned expansion into primary production requires additional funds of approximately 20.000.000 Euros and the company is considering making use of the National Investment Law state subsidies, given company’s good experience with business framework in Greece.
REAL TOBACCO applies on its products the trademarked innovative “Multilock” patent on packaging technology for over 120 countries on 5 continents. “Multilock” (hermetical and re-closable) keeps high end cigarette products fresh even after the pack has been opened and guarantees up two times longer life, in conditions of high humidity and heat prevailing in the main export regions, namely Africa, Persian Gulf Countries, Central Asian and Far Eastern countries. “Multilock” has been enthusiastically accepted by consumers and distributors.
Boosting over 140 employees, company’s team is comprised of highly experiences professionals coming from some of the global tobacco industry leaders and with extensive background and deep expertise in all aspects of cigarette manufacturing. By applying the leading and most innovative production and organization practices in the tobacco industry, REAL TOBACCO SA ensures the highest quality standards, enjoying today excellent reputation among customers in over 130 countries globally.
Main concern of REAL TOBACCO is the development of a strong social footprint through discreet contributions to the wider local community over actions promoting culture, education and environmental protection.
As Hristo Latchev, owner of the company and Chief Operating Officer, states, “I can say with certainty and special satisfaction today, almost 6 years after our start up in Greece, that our projects has been proved an absolutely successful choice over our expectations as we faced in all phases of the development of our investment plan, an excellent public sector administration regarding the licensing procedures, a modern banking system that covered our great needs for the provision of duty-free export guarantees, as well as the highest level of customs authorities for handling complex procedures”. It should be noted that the investment launched in 2017 in Greece was a product of a very exhaustive analysis of various other countries, such as Switzerland and Italy.
“We will continue upgrading our presence with the development of the primary production investment, having complete confidence to our team under the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hristos Folias and rest of our executives and employees, whose skills we will keep improving ” says Hristo Latchev, former CEO of Bulgartabac and numerous other multinationals.
With a turnover of 36.000.000 Euros and a profit of 3.200.000 Euros in 2022, with brands enjoying high recognition in the global market, with the latest generation technological equipment and with zero bank loans, REAL TOBACCO enters into a new development phase to the benefit of the national and local economy, of own shareholders returning a valuable social and economic dividend to Greece, which hosts this exceptional investment.
Expansion in other countries through new factories in joint venture with local partners is a serious option, REAL TOBACCO considers today following to the high demand in company’s know-how transfer in less developed markets where REAL TOBACCO exports today
