Cuban by birth and a resident of Boyeros (Havana), Niurka Nilda has been part of the ICT staff since its beginnings in 2001. We talked to this Development and Engineering Specialist to learn a little more about the steps behind the elaboration of each Cuban mini cigar.
Niurka’s professional career is closely linked to the development of Internacional Cubana de Tabacos, S.A. (ICT), a company she joined 22 years ago. During those more than two decades, she has witnessed how new technologies and processes have improved the production of Cuban mini cigars without modifying what makes them unique: their origin and raw material. Throughout this time, the factory has gone from operating with a few rolling machines to having a whole technological set-up that transforms and grows according to demand, consisting of both traditional and bobbin system rolling machines.
“For packaging and finishing, we had a couple of cellophane and banding machines, and we packaged and labeled manually; now we have several cellophane machines, a tubing and a packaging machine, different counter-labeling machines… and all of this is combined with the delicate work of manual packing,” she explains from Havana.
Niurka’s responsibilities within ICT have also varied during her career with the company: she began as a machine operator, continued as Quality Management Specialist and for almost nine years has been working as Development and Engineering Specialist. All three positions have one thing in common: “They have allowed me to work as part of a team to meet our main challenge”.
She still remembers the day she approached that new company that had started operating near her home, back in 2000, and Cuban tobacco burst into her life: “I was called to be part of the wonderful world of 100% natural machine-made mini cigars”, she recalls. Some time has passed since then and the catalog of Cuban mini cigars has grown from three formats, all under three grams, to the current seven, which now also include cigars with a higher grammage.
And for all this to work, Niurka stresses the importance of having a human team, essential for continuing to achieve a quality product: “We have a skilled, specialized and committed workforce”.
This Cuban, who defines herself as passionate about challenges, does not remember any tobacco tradition in her family: “I am a starting point if we are talking about mini cigars,” she says. However, she is clear that when it comes to choosing one, it would be Montecristo Puritos. “At first I had a certain predilection for its blend, but later I also realized that the format was attractive and comfortable and could be consumed in a perfect time with friends or at events”. Although she tells us without hesitation about the second place in her personal ranking: “Today my next choice is Montecristo Short“.
Finally, we asked Niurka about a goal, and she has no doubts: to continue guaranteeing quality in every step of the process of making Cuban mini cigars. And we, as fans of enjoying them, could not be more grateful.
