We appreciate this excellent article in Tobacco Business Magazine by Antoine Reid. This link will take you to the full article. There is a lot of insight, history, and new news! This is a great way to wrap up 2018 and we can promise you 2019 will be our greatest yet!
After months of research, travel, and writing, Greg Girard has written the most comprehensive article ever written about Tobacconist University (TU). Mr. Girard, the editor of Tobacconist Magazine, interviewed TU Founder Jorge Armenteros and has managed to capture and convey the personality, character, and passion behind Tobacconist University. While TU has over 1300 certified tobacconists and apprentices today, its humble beginnings started in a small retail location in Princeton, New Jersey in 1995. Mr. Girard traveled to Princeton to interview Mr. Armenteros at the place where TU started and the story begins. "Jorge Armenteros is the implacable force behind the only accreditation program for tobacconists. We take a look at how Tobacconist Universitygot its start some 12 years ago and where it will be going in the next decade." Mr. Armenteros states "... its a great privilege for the president of Tobacconist University to be interviewed by the editor of Tobacconist Magazine. While I am thrilled to have our story told and be on the front cover, I only wish that we could have had a group photo of our 1300 plus certified tobacconists and apprentices on the cover instead. TU is not about me and never will be.... its much bigger than that. And if I do my job right it will outlive us all and continue to help preserve and support the luxury tobacco industry for generations to come". This rare interview is published in the Sept/Oct issue of Tobacconist Magazine and is also being made available to the public on the Tobacconist Magazine website: if you are interested in the past, present, and future of Tobacconist University, this is a must read!
What is certification? Why should you be certified? And how do you become certified? These are the questions TU President and Founder Jorge L. Armenteros, CMT answers in this video interview.
Whether they choose to get certified to strengthen their business, brand, and professionalism or to take advantage of the promotional value provided by TU, over 1200 tobacconists have already answered these questions for themselves. But, every day legislators, special interest groups, bureaucrats and the nanny state try to usurp your professional and individual rights, disparage the tobacconist profession, and enact new taxes. TU exists to educate consumers, professionals, legislators, and the entire world about premium and luxury tobacco products and their history. Without education, there will be no salvation!
Of course, if you don't believe in a code of ethics and standards, professionalism, or excellence, then certification is not for you...
"The luxury and premium tobacco industry will not exist without the retail tobacconist"
After nearly 19 years in existence, Tobacconist University President & Founder Jorge Armenteros sits down to discuss the beginnings of TU, the importance of educating, supporting, promoting, and providing competitive advantages for retail tobacconists. Jorge also discusses the exclusive relationship between TU and the IPCPR as well as the current and future focus of TU.
"Above and beyond ... we need to create real competitive advantages, leveraging points for these Certified Retail Tobacconists. We need to empower them and give them more opportunities to be more profitable and more successful than they've ever had before. That's our ambition. That's what's next."
How do you feel about Government regulation of cigars? The challenges are staggering for the premium tobacco industry, and retail tobacconists are on the front lines of this battle for taste and freedom: FDA, S-CHIP, Smoking Bans, smoking restrictions, OTP taxes, import duties, small cigar taxes, snuff/snus taxes, cigarette taxes, local/city/state regulations, and many many more...
In a rare, unprecedented, and exclusive interview, Jorge Armenteros, CMT, founder and president of Tobacconist University, sits down to discuss TU, R&D Cigars, the IPCPR, and everything in between. The full interview will be released over the coming weeks and months... stay tuned!
PM Magazine: What’s the advantage of buying cigars from a certified tobacconist?
Jorge Armenteros: As the president of Tobacconist University, I have dedicated almost 15 years to this question. In fact, I wrote The Tobacconist Handbook (available on amazon.com) to try and improve the culture of professional tobacconists. Above all, a certified tobacconist is schooled in fundamentals and understands the differences between tobaccos and what makes them special. Ultimately, very few tobaccos and/or cigars are premium or luxury products. The best cigars in the world take years or decades to create and a certified tobacconist can help a consumer enhance their own appreciation by sharing that knowledge.
…. the joy of our business is to introduce smokers to something outside of their comfort zone and watch them fall in love with it…
