Claudio Sgroi starts consulting firm
Claudio Sgroi starts consulting firm. Accomplished tobacco veteran Claudio Sgroi is starting operations of his own consulting firm, to coincide with his 20th anniversary within the tobacco industry. “This is a significant step in my career,” says Sgroi, “since through ‘CST Consulting, LLC’, I will be able to share my expertise and my dreams in the tobacco industry.”
The company offers consultative services covering the premium tobacco industry from “The-Seed-To-The-Ash” comprising tobacco crops management, fermentation, and pre-industry, tobacco supply chain setup and operations, blending, production, and quality assurance, international logistics, distribution and fulfillment, design, and marketing and sales strategies.
20 years
“May 18th, 2001 was when I stepped for the first time into a tobacco field!” continues Claudio Sgroi. “Two intensive and immersive decades spent in the tobacco industry feels like a lifetime to me. During this period, I traveled the world exploring and working relentlessly to discover every aspect of our beloved industry. These twenty years allowed me to create a bag full of experiences and knowledge; what I accumulated in these years is what I will be bringing to my clients’ operations and energizes me to pursuit this new venture”.
CST Consulting, LLC is based in Miami and has already signed several contracts of partnership, collaborations, and consulting with companies in different continents: United Tabac (Miami, FL-USA) import, distribution, and fulfillment; Julián Sued & Cía (Dominican Republic) quality assurance, blending, and business development; Tabacalera Tambor (Nicaragua) blending and production; FAEC (Miami, FL-USA) industrial engineering, project management; PSX Ventures GMBH (Austria) product development, creative concepts, training for importers, distributors, sales staff and hospitality operators, marketing concepts for manufacturers; Lyon Cigars (Canada) blending, marketing and distribution strategy; Camino Cigars (USA) blending and production assurance at Julián Sued & Cía; Tabacalera Del Oriente (Perú) quality assurance and international distribution; Italian Cigar Group S.R.L. (Italy) tobacco supply, blending, quality assurance, production, and distribution strategy. To respect privacy and the non-disclosure agreements, other continents including Africa are not named.
“I’m extremely happy to get back to my roots as a consultant. My passion for new projects and the challenges that come with them are very inspiring to me,” added Claudio Sgroi, “CST is set to be a leader in consulting the tobacco industry and has already created tight relationships with several companies to redefine the word boutique in premium cigars, to help new talents to become major players in the industry, and to offer new services in this industry”.
ABOUT CLAUDIO SGROI
Claudio Sgroi is a renowned Master Blender with twenty years of experience in the tobacco sector and cigar manufacturing. He began his career in 2001 in the Dominican Republic, alongside Hendrik Kelner, Davidoff’s Master Blender. He had increasingly important assignments in the Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Nicaragua, and the United States, where he acquired a comprehensive knowledge of the industry and processes, including agronomic processes, blending, production of cigars, marketing, and international sales.
In 2011 he joined Mombacho Cigars as a Consultant where he designed and implemented new vitolas, successful blends, an effective quality assurance system, as well as complete re-dimensioning of the warehousing and logistics operations. He created a distribution and sales network that covered more than twelve countries and developed productive bonds with the best tobacco growers in Nicaragua. He led the renovation of Casa Favilli, a historical monument in Granada that today serves as the Mombacho cigar factory. In January 2020 he was elected President of the Nicaragua Tobacco Chamber (CNT), which includes 26 members, representing 95% of the cigars and tobacco exported from Nicaragua.
