For more than a century, Swisher has manufactured numerous cigar products. Their cigar lineups include names like Swisher Sweets, King Edward, Optimo, BlackStone, Pom-Pom and Santa Fe cigars. Swisher's portfolio, in collaboration with Drew Estate, includes a wide range of premium, top-shelf cigars including ACID, Tabak Especial, and La Vieja Habana. Swisher also manufactures a wide range of smokeless tobacco, including brands Lancaster, Mail Pouch, Chattanooga Chew, and Starr chewing tobacco, in addition to Kayak and Creek moist snuffs. Since 1958, Swisher has offered Swisher Sweets cigars in a variety of tastes and blends including a cigar and cigarillos. Swisher Sweets Original and Diamonds are the #1 and #2 best-selling large cigar in the U.S., according to MSAi Database: 52 Weeks Ending 7/13/19. Together, they account for more volume than the next five competitive large cigar items combined.
History
Swisher traces its roots back to 1861 when David Swisher, a merchant out of Newark, Ohio, received a small cigar business in settlement of a debt. David and his four sons began to sell cigars across the Midwest from their “rolling stores” or wagons. The cigars were rolled by hand every day in a one-room “manufactury” in Newark. In 1888, David's sons, John and Harry, bought the company from their father and renamed it Swisher Brothers. The company experienced great growth, and by 1895 the business had grown into three factories that employed over 1,000 people who hand-rolled as many as 300,000 cigars per day. In 1913, John bought out his brother, Harry, took on his own son, Carl, and renamed the company to Jno H. Swisher & Son. About ten years later, Carl selected Jacksonville, Florida when looking for a new home for their growing business due to the area's climate, shipping facilities, and proximity to raw materials and markets. Swisher has been headquartered in Jacksonville ever since. In 1923, Swisher was the first company to order rolling machines, which transformed the business by mass-producing cigars that were superior in uniformity, appearance, and quality. The “fresh work” machines went into operation in Jacksonville on June 20, 1924, and by the end of the 1920s, Swisher was making 100 million cigars a year. Swisher was also the first to wrap individual cigars in cellophane and the first to come up with a simple device for removing the cellophane by pulling the cigar band. By 1927, the Ohio facilities were closed and consolidated into the Florida operation. Even during the Great Depression, business was good and Swisher was hiring hundreds to keep up with the demand for its cigars. Swisher's hiring record earned the company Forbes magazine's Certificate of Merit for having “the vision, courage, and faith in America’s future to make large investments in the face of Depression problems.” During the same period and largely due to its investment in money-saving machinery, Swisher was able to cut the price of its King Edward Cigar from 5 cents each to 2 for 5 cents; it had been introduced in 1918 at 10 cents. Sales soared, and by the early 1940s, King Edward was the world's number one cigar. By 1941, the Jacksonville facility was the largest cigar factory in the world under one roof. It also housed the nation's first industrial children's nursery, which opened in 1939. In the following years, Swisher expanded by opening other facilities for handling, processing, storing, and shipping the huge quantities of tobacco needed in Jacksonville. In 1958, the Swisher Sweets brand was introduced, and by 1964, the company was making four million cigars a day that were shipped to all 50 states and to 47 foreign countries. During the next twenty years, as the cigar market contracted, Swisher prospered by adding new King Edward and Swisher Sweets products to its line up. At the same time, the company invested millions of dollars in cost effective automation and process improvements. In 1992, Jno Swisher and Son, Inc. changed its name to Swisher International, Inc. to reflect the company's international sales and operations. In 2014, Swisher acquired Miami-based Drew Estate Tobacco Company that produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Natural, Nica Rustica, Nirvana Cameroon Selection, Tabak Especial, UnderCrown, and Java by Drew Estate. As of 2019, Swisher has over 30% of the total large cigar category by volume in the US.
Products
Swisher offers tobacco products including cigars, filtered cigars and smokeless tobacco brands.
Management
The executive team at Swisher consists of: John Miller as President; Louis Caldropoli as Chief Operations Officer; Lee Creasman as Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Administration; Glenn Goodroe as Senior Vice President of Operations; Christopher Casey as Senior Vice President and General Counsel; John Haley as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing; Dean Simmons as Vice President of Sales; and Joseph Augustus as Senior Vice President of Global Affairs. Former president and CEO, Peter Ghiloni, retired from Swisher in 2018 after 34 years with the company and more than 45 years in the tobacco industry. Under Ghiloni's leadership as the CEO, Swisher increased sales while expanding its global presence with the establishment of Swisher Dominicana, Inc., the acquisition of Drew Estate, and the formation of alliances in new industries.
Philanthropy
The Swisher name has a long-standing history with Jacksonville University since its charter in 1934. Carl S. Swisher was the University's first major donor and benefactor. The Swisher Gymnasium, Swisher Library, and Swisher Theatre illustrate just some of Mr. Swisher's self-aggrandizement. Swisher International's executives and employees have been active volunteers across Jacksonville University's campus for the past 75 years.
