After a four year break, Scandinavian Tobacco Group has confirmed that they will again attend as an exhibitor. Featuring their entire Forged Cigar Company portfolio, the announcement lists Alec Bradley, Room101, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Diesel, Bolivar Cofradia, El Rey del Mundo and Chillin’ Moose among the brands being highlighted. Forged is STG’s independent sales division, established in 2021 to work directly with tobacconists.
Part of the industry’s “big four” companies, STG joined Altadis USA, Davidoff, and Drew Estate in withdrawing from 2020’s show over concerns about the state and direction of the event. STG/Forged had a small presence at the convention last year, having just acquired Room 101 in the weeks leading up to the show. Another large factor in the decision to return this year, on top of the work being accomplished by the Association, appears to be the recent announcement that 2024’s event will take place March 22-25 rather than in July.
Régis Broersma, president of STG’s North America and “Rest of World” division says, “We are very pleased with the recent, retailer-focused changes the PCA organization has made to the annual tradeshow and have decided to renew our participation beginning this year. The PCA show provides an unmatched opportunity to interact with the trade, and gives us a chance to thank the retail community for their unwavering support of Forged Cigar Company. PCA will also serve as a ’coming out party’ for us this year because we will be at the show as one company with the Alec Bradley brands fully integrated into our portfolio. Need-less to say, we will have much to celebrate and much to talk about in Vegas.”