Over the last few weeks, we had been hearing rumors that another one of the big four brands who exited the annual PCA (formerly IPCPR) would be returning. Retailers were revealing Altadis was telling them to expect them at the mid-summer event. Now we know for sure, Altadis USA will return after seeing them added to the PCA 2023 floor map.
Last month, Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) announced that they would return to the trade show floor by way of the already reserved Alec Bradley booth and will feature their Forged Cigar Co. brands only. STG acquired the Alec Brandley brand back in February and decided to use their booth space.
Another interesting tidbit of information is the fact that another major company, Drew Estate, will also have staff at PCA 2023 at the Joya de Nicaragua booth taking orders, yet they will not take orders for any Drew Estate products.
Three of these brands, known as ‘”the big four” – STG, Altadis USA, Drew Estate and Davidoff, will have representation at the tradeshow this year. The only one not returning at all is Davidoff. The “big four” all exited following the 2019 IPCPR trade show, vowing not to return for the new PCA show in 2020. That show didn’t happen but they were absent from the 2021 trade show. Last year, STG had staff in the Room101 booth after they had acquired the brand a month before.
In addition to this, it would also appear that A.J. Fernandez is returning to the trade show this year after being absent from the show in 2022.
