“Absolutely no question” Bacardi will return to Cuba – president

"Absolutely no question" Bacardi will return to Cuba – president
By Olly Wehring | 1 November 2014

The president of Bacardi has reiterated the company's intention to
return to its native Cuba once the US embargo of the country is lifted.

The Bacardi family – and its rum company – was expelled from Cuba in
1959 following the country's revolution, led by Fidel Castro. Since
then, the US authorities have imposed an embargo on the country in
protest against the revolution. Bacardi has subsequently set up a head
office in Bermuda, a distillery in Puerto Rico and other operational
offices in Miami.

US president Barack Obama has long been thought to be keen on ending the
embargo.

Speaking to just-drinks at his company's Puerto Rico facility, Joaquin
Bacardi confirmed that the firm will return to Cuba in some capacity at
the earliest possible opportunity. "We are hopeful that the facilities
(Bacardi owned before the revolution) that exist in Cuba will be
returned to us," he said. "We have all the documentation to prove that
that property is ours.

"Because that property has been abandoned for so many years – although
it is being operated to produce other rums - we know that the conditions
of that operation are very poor; they don't maintain it very well. So,
it's going to require a significant capital investment."

Joaquin Bacardi, who is a member of the fifth generation of the family
that set up the company, flagged that it is unlikely that Bacardi would
produce all of its namesake rum portfolio in Cuba, if the embargo is raised.

"We have a lot of (distilling) assets around the world," he said. "It's
going to take a balance between what products should come out of Cuba
and what products should come from our existing facilities – there will
likely be a combination of those.

"Rest assured," he added, "when the embargo lifts, Bacardi is going to
have a presence in Cuba again some day. There is absolutely no question
of that."

The Cuban Government, through its Cuba Ron unit, jointly owns and
produces the Havana Club rum brand in the country with Pernod Ricard.
The two spirits companies have been in long-running legal disagreement
over the Havana Club trademark, with Bacardi selling a rum by the same
name in Florida. Pernod and Cuba Ron own the trademark in almost all
markets outside the US.

Source: "Absolutely no question" of Bacardi return to Cuba -
http://www.just-drinks.com/news/absolutely-no-question-bacardi-will-return-to-cuba-president_id115310.aspx