African Entrepreneurship Record

February 3, 1872.

Harare, Zimbabwe.

Ernst led the command staff to the front line. When passing through Harare, the former capital of Zimbabwe, he happened to see tobacco planted in the fields, lush and green, showing a vibrant vitality.

Ernst has been on the road these days, so he plans to do some repairs here and inspect the construction work in Zimbabwe.

Leaka, the mayor of Harare Town, introduced respectfully: "Your Highness, this is the tobacco planting area planned by Hesingen Tobacco Company in Zimbabwe this year. We have expanded the planting scale in various regions of Zimbabwe this year. By then, Hesingen Tobacco The production base will also be moved from northern East Africa to Zambia and Zimbabwe, especially Zimbabwe, which is dedicated to the production of high-end tobacco."

Ernst was very pleased to see that his policies were being implemented well. For Zimbabwe's most famous crops, tobacco must be on the list.

In the previous life, Zimbabwe was the world's largest tobacco exporter. A Zimbabwean once said: "Tobacco means to Zimbabwe what gold means to South Africa - if Johannesburg is a capital built on gold mines, then Harare is definitely touched by tobacco. Light."

It was not unusual for Ernst to know about Zimbabwean tobacco leaves because in a previous life he had met a friend from the Far East Tobacco Company during a business trip in Zimbabwe.

Ernst himself said it was difficult to understand Far East Tobacco Company's bid for tobacco in Zimbabwe, because he had always believed that the Far East was a major tobacco producer, so this kind of thing still needed to be imported?

The most outrageous thing is not the import, but that Zimbabwe's tobacco needs to be auctioned. At the Harare tobacco auction, countries bid against each other, and the one with the highest price wins.

Later, through the introduction of Far East Tobacco Company employees, Ernst found out why Zimbabwean tobacco leaves were so popular that they even needed to be auctioned.

The first is high quality. Zimbabwean tobacco leaves have ample aroma and high maturity. They are one of the typical representatives of high-quality tobacco leaves in the world. They have mellow aroma, unique burnt sweetness, moderate strength, and light irritation. In addition to good taste, Zimbabwean tobacco leaves Flue-cured tobacco leaves are also famous for their low chemical residues and relative health.

High quality and small output are not enough. However, Zimbabwe is located between 15 degrees 33 minutes and 22 degrees 24 minutes south latitude. The annual precipitation reaches between 600 and 800 millimeters, and nearly 60% of the precipitation is concentrated in The tobacco growing season is the most suitable weather for the growth of high-quality tobacco leaves. It has the most suitable sunshine, rain, dew and climate for the growth of flue-cured tobacco that cannot be replicated.

At the same time, Zimbabwe has unique granite sandy loam tobacco fields at the same latitude in the world, which are particularly suitable for the cultivation of tobacco crops, making Zimbabwe known as the "golden tobacco fields" in the world. The tobacco leaves grown are soft and golden in color, and are also known as the "golden tobacco leaves." It is the main raw material widely used in high-end cigarettes.

Since Zimbabwean tobacco leaves are so good, why don’t many people know about it? When it comes to cigars, everyone knows about Cuba, but in the field of flue-cured tobacco, the status of Zimbabwean gold leaf is the same as that of Cuban cigars. In particular, most smokers in the world's largest flue-cured tobacco consumer country have probably never heard of it.

In fact, in the past life, the Far East was the largest importer of Zimbabwean tobacco leaves. All high-quality cigarettes sold in the Far East countries, except for tobacco from Yunnan, only selected high-quality tobacco leaves from Zimbabwe as the raw material base. In other words, you may now have tobacco in your hands. The cigarettes inside are most likely mixed with Zimbabwean tobacco.

In the previous life, Zimbabwean tobacco was introduced from the United States. Even in the worst years of relations between the two countries, almost all high-end American brands of cigarettes were mixed with a certain proportion of Zimbabwean tobacco, because this high-end tobacco with a unique burnt-sweet aroma is Quality and taste guaranteed.

Zimbabwean tobacco leaves are of high quality and high in price. Even in the three high-end cigarette consumer markets in Europe and the United States, they can only mix Zimbabwean shredded tobacco in proportion and are not willing to use 100% of it. This shows the status of Zimbabwean tobacco leaves in the world.

However, these advantages are not the reason why Hechingen Tobacco Company chose to plant tobacco on a large scale in Zimbabwe. Originally, the tobacco growing area in the north of East Africa was enough to ensure tobacco supply.

However, under the influence of the East African immigration policy, Ernst intended to accelerate this process, thus prompting part of the agricultural population to migrate inland, and tobacco growers were the first group.

Of course Ernst knew the benefits of tobacco production in Zimbabwe, but no matter how boastful he was, this was the first time tobacco was grown in Zimbabwe. No one knew what the finished product would be like. However, the result will not be too different. After research by the technical staff of the Hechingen Tobacco Company, they also agreed that Zimbabwe is more suitable for tobacco cultivation than other regions in East Africa. The worst quality of the tobacco here after harvest is higher than the world average. As long as After several more years of selective breeding and cultivation, it will be able to reach the world's best tobacco level.

Thinking of this, Ernst suddenly had an idea. He said to Leaka, the mayor of Harare Town: "This year, your tobacco farmers will work harder. If you have any difficulties, tell the government. If the labor force is not enough, just apply for more slaves. Harare Harare is the current and future tobacco growing base of the East African Kingdom. I plan to set up a tobacco factory in Harare in the future to specifically build the Harare tobacco brand, so you must ensure the priority of tobacco growing."

After hearing the Crown Prince's arrangement, Leaka hurriedly said: "Your Highness, don't worry, I will ensure that tobacco cultivation in Harare is a top priority for all residents of Harare Town."

Very well, the establishment of a tobacco company in East Africa was entirely out of Ernst's bad taste. Mainly in terms of name, Ernst planned to borrow the Henan local cigarette brand "Golden Leaf" from his previous life as the trademark of the new product.

Zimbabwean tobacco leaves are called "golden tobacco leaves", which can also be translated as Zimbabwean "golden leaves". Isn't this a coincidence? Moreover, the golden leaf does not carry the meaning of a place name and directly indicates the quality of Zimbabwean tobacco leaves.

If it is paired with the Tuhao Gold trademark, it will definitely be eye-catching when launched on the market. Ernst plans to directly launch the "gold leaf" produced in Zimbabwe as a mid-to-high-end product to East Africa and Europe.

This can also be separated from the current low-end cigarette market of Hessingen Tobacco Company. Since the supply of Hessingen Tobacco Company came from the Netherlands and other countries in the past few years, the overall cigarette quality and taste are not very high, and in China High-end products cost more, and only at a higher price can you buy slightly better quality tobacco leaves.

This situation improved greatly when the tobacco fields in East Africa were gradually opened up and harvests were abundant. However, the previous reputation was no longer good. That is to say, with the convenience of industrial production, the price of cigarettes was lowered, so that we could seize large tracts from traditional tobacco merchants. The market mainly consists of low-income consumer groups such as the military, workers, and farmers.

Now that East Africa's tobacco production is sufficient, it is not a problem to maintain the price advantage of the low-cost cigarette brands owned by Hessingen Tobacco Company. Zimbabwean tobacco leaves can also be added for seasoning to improve the taste. When East Africa's "golden leaf" is put into production, the mid-to-high-end market will also have A place for the tobacco company Hechingen.