cigar aficionado - The Moodie Report

January 2006 KEYNOTE INTERVIEW • Mohamed Zeidan
A true Cuban
cigar aficionado
By Martin Moodie
Mohamed Zeidan, the driving force behind the world’s finest airport cigar outlet, has
become a great global ambassador for Cuban cigars and a Compañero to Fidel
Castro. The President of Phoenicia Trading talked about cigars, Cuba and Lebanon’s
future with Martin Moodie at company headquarters in Beirut recently.
It is mid-afternoon on a mild December day in Beirut.
Looking out at the impressively reconstructed
city from his Phoenicia Trading Company headquarters,
President Mohamed Zeidan draws hard on a
Trinidad Reyes.
It’s one of many thousands of Cuban cigars he has smoked
over the 30 years since he first lit one up. He recalls the
moment as if it was yesterday. “It was in 1975, and the
cigar was a Romeo & Juliet Churchill,” he says with a
smile.
In the intervening years this remarkable and engaging
man has carried on a personal and commercial love affair
with Cuban cigars, playing a pioneering role in promoting
them to aficionados and novices alike around the
world.
Today Phoenicia Trading runs the world’s most acclaimed
airport cigar shop, part of the fine retail offering at Beirut
Duty Free (where the remainder of the stores are run in
partnership with Aer Rianta International-Middle East).
It’s a retail execution that he is rightly proud of. The
450sq m area includes two walk-in humidors, one for regular
items and one for vintage and limited-edition cigars.
Most stunning of all is the VIP Lounge where travellers
can smoke their favourite Cuban in a luxury gentlemen’s
club type setting while waiting for their planes.
The Moodie Report rates it the best airport specialist outlet
in the world (see page 15) and it has earned many
other consumer and trade accolades, confirming Zeidan’s
stature as one of the great global ambassadors of
Cuban cigars.
Four years after his life-changing first smoke of that
Romeo & Juliet, Zeidan’s company won the concession
to run duty free at the old Beirut International Airport.
Mohamed Zeidan: A personal and commercial love
affair with Cuban cigars
Phoenicia began sourcing cigars from a Swiss distributor
called Cogecot (later renamed Meditra) and two years
later received an invitation to visit Cuba. During that trip
Phoenicia placed its first direct order with state cigar
maker Cubatabaco, for two million premium cigars, many
of large sizes. The consignment was paid for in cash. “It
was a big surprise to Cubatabaco,” Zeidan recalls with
some understatement.
That deal began a relationship that has grown steadily closer
down the years. In 1984 the company became the first
to launch the Cohiba brand internationally and in 1997
Phoenicia began a distribution joint venture with Habanos
(itself a joint venture between Cubatabaco and Altadis),
covering three countries – Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
The relationship flourished – so much so that last year
the agreement was extended to many other markets,
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KEYNOTE INTERVIEW • Mohamed Zeidan January 2006
"Compañero" whispers Fidel Castro to Mohamed Zeidan, pictured with the Cuban
leader on one of his many visits to Cuba
including Africa, the Middle East, all Arab countries,
Turkey, Iran and some European countries such as Greek,
Malta and Cyprus. It was a landmark deal that has transformed
the scope of Phoenicia, and Zeidan says he is
excited about the opportunities.
“We are making a study of the markets and 2006 will be
the action year,” he enthuses. “We are very optimistic
about the prospects for Cuban cigars. One of our main
challenges is to do something really special in the other
markets.”
“Believe me,” says Zeidan, “in an airport environment
such as ours, cigar smokers will spend more than they
would have done otherwise”
Phoenicia will draw heavily for inspiration on its successful
business in Lebanon, where the company runs not
only the airport store but the magnificent downtown
Casa del Habano operation.
Will the company repeat the Lebanese model? “Yes.
That is why Habanos came to us – to have this model
everywhere,” Zeidan replies. “We will focus mainly on
airports, though in many cases we won’t have the same
space. But the approach, selection, display, pricing strategy
– everything else will be the same.”
He is convinced that if airports give the category the
appropriate space and ambience – preferably run by
Phoenicia – then the results will flow immediately. He
points out that an ultra-successful retail complex such as
Dubai Duty Free does about a tenth of Beirut Duty Free’s
cigar business, despite having around 17 million passengers
to Beirut International Airport’s 3.3 million (admittedly
most of them high-spending Lebanense – Ed).
“Believe me,” he says, gently blowing a large plume of
smoke into the air, “in such an environment cigar smokers
will spend much more than they would otherwise.”
He adds: “At the airport cigars represent nearly 25% of
our business, yet they are less than 1% of duty free worldwide.
Anyone who wants to buy a cigar wants to know
more, they want service. So anyone who is selling cigars
should have a lot of information – they should know
everything there is to know about them.”
Zeidan said the idea for the Beirut International Airport
cigar extravaganza was a long time in the making. “For five
years before we created it I had been thinking of something
like this. I had visited many countries to get inspiration.
And we didn’t do it just for Beirut Duty Free; it
was also to create an image for Cuban cigars worldwide.”
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January 2006 KEYNOTE INTERVIEW • Mohamed Zeidan
And that’s exactly what Phoenicia
and Zeidan have done. A framed
picture taken with Cuban President
Fidel Castro takes pride of place in
his office in central Beirut. In the
picture the legendary Castro can be
seen whispering to him.
“What was he saying?” I ask.
“Compañero [close companion],”
Zeidan replies proudly.
Today that companionship with a
country and its flagship product is
expressed lovingly at all Phoenicia’s
Casa del Habano stores, and most
visibly at the airport.
Fine cigars are
individually dusted
at Phoenicia’s
award-winning
Beirut International
Airport store
The relationship with Aer Rianta
International–Middle East is also a
warm one, having been struck in 1996 after both companies
bid for the duty free tender at the Lebanese gateway’s
new airport. The government’s determination to
encourage foreign investment in post-war Lebanon led to
a decision to joint venture the operation, and it’s been a
highly successful and critically acclaimed partnership
ever since. But now Phoenicia is determined to extend its
own duty free retailing remit around the world, at least
in markets where cigars enjoy prominence.
Why? “Because since 1980 we have been in duty free. We
are a duty free retailer with the know-how and the relationships.
And the cigars give us power and potential to
develop further.”
Key areas of interest are the Middle East and Africa,
Zeidan says. He believes there are many opportunities,
given the growing focus on commercial revenues and
the privatisation trend.
He’s equally upbeat about the future of cigars, despite the
strength of the global anti-smoking lobby. “Cigars are different
to cigarettes and other tobacco items,” he says. “I
think all the World Health Organization pressure is actually
to the benefit of cigars, because people will switch
back to them. In future people will smoke less, but they
will smoke better quality.
“So there are big possibilities in the future – and remember
that the premium cigars in the Habanos family portfolio
are growing fastest.”
Zeidan is as passionate about Habanos and Cuba as he is
about cigars. “We have been with Habanos for 25 years
now, working in a very transparent and nice way with
them. And Cuba... well I consider Cuba to be my second
country. The Cubans treasure their relationships with
people they like, and ours is an excellent relationship.”
Eager for some tips, I ask this grand man of cigars for his
smoking preferences. It’s a question one suspects he has
been asked many times before but which, because of his
love of the product, he still delights in. He pauses to take
another deep draw on his Trinidad Reyes and says through
the resultant outpouring of smoke, “In the daytime it’s
[Montecristo] Edmundo, at night it’s a Cohiba VI.
“But,” he adds, “every day I smoke a new cigar.”
And what to drink with that Cohiba VI? “Cognac is the
best, or malt whisky – but no ice. Johnnie Walker Green
Label is also good.”
He saves his final word for more serious subject matter:
Lebanon, his first country. It is a land that has seen much
bloodshed and horror over the past three decades, and
which was once again blighted by violent political turmoil
in 2005 with the tragic assassination of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February.
“The last 25 to 30 years have given Lebanon a lot of
experiences, including much sadness and hard times,” he
says. “But the people have got stronger and more unified,
and show greater solidarity. All this is positive for
Lebanon. We went through very bad times, but Lebanon
didn’t disappear.” ■
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