While the news of Oliva Cigars being under new management isn’t recent, there is an update regarding the Oliva family and what’s been going on since the change in management in 2016.<\/p>\n
By\u00a0Simon Lundh<\/a><\/p>\n Posted on\u00a0November 2, 2018<\/p>\n \u201cI still feel like it\u2019s mine, like it\u2019s part of me, and hopefully I will be around for many years to come.\u201d Gilberto Oliva sits, cigar in hand, in the Oliva Cigar Company office in Estel\u00ed. We\u2019re talking about the company he\u2019s\u00a0worked for and owned together with his siblings, Jos\u00e9, Carlos, and Jeannie<\/a>, for more than 20 years. That is\u00a0until 2016, when Fred Vandermarliere took over ownership<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been our life, but the family was growing, we all have kids now and different members had different interests,\u201d he says. Today only two of them, Gilberto and Jos\u00e9, are involved in the business. \u201cI\u2019m very involved in the growing part and the blending, on a consultant basis, but Frederik (Vandermarliere, CEO of J. Cort\u00e8s) makes me feel like I\u2019m still part of it. Tobacco is my life. I breathe, eat, and sleep tobacco.\u201d Jos\u00e9 has continued as the CEO; it remains to be seen for how long.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n