In real life, everything this industry creates culminates in one moment.
A customer stands across the counter from a tobacconist.
Before that moment, seeds have been selected. Tobacco has been cultivated, harvested, cured, fermented, aged and sorted. Cigars have been blended and rolled. Generations of agricultural knowledge and craftsmanship have been brought together. Manufacturers have built brands. Importers, distributors and retailers have invested enormous resources bringing those products to market.
And then comes the handoff.
Everything that came before can be elevated in that moment or diminished.
That is why the tobacconist matters.
Education and Profession
Today, cigar education is everywhere.
There are books, videos, personalities, “masters,” “master classes” and online learning experiences devoted to premium cigars. Manufacturers and retailers are sharing knowledge. Enthusiasts have access to more information than ever before.
That can be good for cigars, good for consumers and good for the culture.
But not all education exists for the same purpose.
Education can support a product or brand. It can build an audience. It can be sold as an experience. It can explore a particular subject in depth.
Other organizations may use education to advance their objectives. Tobacconist University exists to advance education.
We exist to advance education and establish professional standards for tobacconists.
And there is an important distinction between cigar education and professional tobacconist education.
Cigar education teaches people about cigars.
Professional tobacconist education should do at least that.
And then it must go further.
It must ask who, what, where, when, how and why. It must recognize that words matter and fundamentals come first. It must distinguish between fact and opinion, science and subjectivity, education and marketing.
It cannot simply repeat what has been written before, parrot marketing literature or allow preference and convention to masquerade as fact.
Professional education has a responsibility to question, research, define and contextualize knowledge. To acknowledge what we know, what we don't know, and where reasonable people can disagree.
And it should be open.
Knowledge should be shared, examined, questioned and challenged. That is why our educational curriculum is free and available to everyone.
We don't create cigar education experiences.
We build the educational infrastructure of a profession.
The Ultimate Consumer
The tobacconist is the ultimate consumer,
in service to other consumers.
They have cared more, studied more and gone deeper than we would ever expect of someone who enjoys these products simply for pleasure. But that knowledge is not intended to elevate the tobacconist above the consumer. It exists to put them in better service to the consumer and the product.
What does a consumer want to know? What do they need to know? What will they want to know tomorrow? What don't they know to ask today that could deepen their understanding, appreciation and enjoyment?
The professional tobacconist should be prepared for all of it.
In that sense, the tobacconist stands at the vanguard of the industry and serves as a custodian of its products. They inherit the work of growers, manufacturers and craftspeople, care for it, understand it, communicate its value and ultimately place it into the hands of another consumer.
That responsibility requires knowledge beyond any individual product or category. It requires an understanding of the larger world of luxury tobacco: its agriculture, products, accoutrements, history, traditions, service and culture.
Do Not Underestimate Tobacconists
For 30 years, Tobacconist University has educated people across virtually every level of the premium tobacco industry, from people entering the business for the first time to professionals working for tobacconists that have been operating for more than a century.
We have seen enormous differences in experience, education, aptitude, language, learning styles and existing product knowledge.
That experience has taught us something important:
Do not underestimate tobacconists.
Give people access to a meaningful professional standard and let them rise to it.
Some will absorb part of it. Some will absorb most of it. Some will master it. And some will distinguish themselves in ways neither they nor their employers expected.
Not everyone has to reach the same destination.
Education is valuable before the diploma is earned.
A person who better understands how tobacco is cultivated and fermented, why construction matters, how cigars should be conditioned, how to properly cut and light a cigar, and how to communicate that knowledge to a customer has already become a better tobacconist.
Certification recognizes achievement. Education creates it.
Raise the Standard
There will always be pressure to make professional education shorter, easier and less demanding.
Some of that pressure is understandable. Businesses have limited time. Employees have different abilities and levels of interest. Turnover is real. Training has a cost.
But the answer cannot always be to expect less.
A professional standard should be attainable, but it should also mean something.
The objective is not to design education around the person least interested in receiving it. The objective is to make meaningful education accessible to everyone and give each person the opportunity to rise as far as they can.
And that requires more than Tobacconist University fighting for tobacconists.
It requires retailers willing to invest in the people standing across the counter from their customers. Manufacturers and distributors willing to invest in the people representing their products. Accoutrement makers and other industry partners willing to invest in the professionals who explain, demonstrate, protect and ultimately help consumers appreciate what they create.
When you invest in the education and certification of a tobacconist,
you are fighting for tobacconists.
And sometimes that investment reveals something nobody expected.
Knowledge creates confidence. Confidence changes the way that person engages with customers. They become more interested in the products they sell. Customers begin seeking them out. Colleagues begin asking them questions. They become more valuable to their employer and, perhaps most importantly, begin seeing themselves differently.
That is professional development.
Multiplied across thousands of tobacconists, it becomes industry development.
The Keystone
At the point of service, everything comes down to one final conversation.
The tobacconist controls that moment.
The tobacconist is not merely the last link in the chain.
The tobacconist is the keystone connecting everything that came before to the person for whom it was ultimately created.
Product knowledge matters because the product deserves it.
Service matters because the customer deserves it.
Professional standards matter because the profession deserves them.
Industries change. Markets change. Regulations change. Technology changes.
The principle does not.
Set the professional standard. Give everyone access to it.
Help them rise.
That is how we fight for tobacconists.
Every retailer who invests in the professional development of their people fights for tobacconists.
Every manufacturer, distributor and industry partner who supports their education and certification fights for tobacconists.
Every individual who chooses to study, learn, improve and earn a professional credential fights for the profession they have chosen.
Everything we do at Tobacconist University begins there.
But it does not belong to us alone.
We are fighting for tobacconists.
We hope you will fight for them too.
