Smokeshop

28 SMOKESHOP April 2016 W hat a difference a year makes. With the addition of Niels Frederiksen, president and c.e.o. of Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG)—who took over in March 2015— and a new management team installed in November, the attitude change at Gener- al Cigar Company is palpable. People at the factories are smiling and it is like a cloud has been lifted. The new manage- ment is vowing to make the company more nimble by empowering workers and putting a renewed focus on helping brick and mortar retailers. Frederiksen moved up at Scandina- vian most recently from head of the com- pany's global supply chain. He says his first priority was to make the company more profitable by making it more effi- cient. But almost as important was to set up a new corporate culture. "There were multiple cultures stemming from our acquisitions we made over the years. It is a constant challenge to create one cul- ture across all our companies and that is something high on our agenda. It is part of the reason we made the management changes in our handmade business so we could drive that same culture." Those changes were made in No- vember, when Dan Carr was let go from General Cigar and replaced with Regis Broersma who has been with Scandina- vian Tobacco since graduating college. Says Frederiksen, "We moved Regis from Europe into the U.S. and not be- cause Dan was doing a bad job, but we wanted a new set of hands and eyes on the company and the cultural change he would bring." > CIGARMAKER SPOTLIGHT A New Day for General Cigar Management changes at parent company STG began a year ago, and a U.S. shakeup continued last fall, paving the way for a number of operational initiatives. >BY FRANK SELTZER > Niels Frederiksen, president & c.e.o., Scandinavian Tobacco Group.

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