Pipe Tobacco: Difference between revisions

It was close! But things look better. Because Perique grows in a very small area within the St.James Perish in Louisiana, hurricanes and other variables in the weather can effect the entire crop for any given year. The economy of the region is also a factor. Perique farmers have passed their lands and knowledge on to their families for 150 years, but farming Perique is very labor intensive, and the profits are small. Many in the younger generations of these farming families have taken jobs in nearby plants. Perique is now farmed by only a few small operations between 1/4 acre and 10 acres. Only Percy Martin, the largest producer processes the crop commercially, and he is under contract with the Santa Few Natural Tobacco Co, which buys all of his tobacco for cigarettes. A handful of the remaining producers do some pre-processing, but the only other producer of Perique has been the L.A. Poche Perique Tobacco Co., which came close to closing in 2005.  At that point it looked bleak for Perique until Mark Ryan and Steve Coley stepped in, forming a new company, Coley Ryan Tobacco Enterprises, which stepped in and bought L.A. Poche. They had lots of help from Neal Poche, and Dudley LeBlanc, who is the second largest grower of Perique after Martin. With Poche and LeBlanc's help, Ryan and Coley learned the unique processes, and have committed themselves and their company to to the future of Perique. It would appear that Perique's future is as bright as it has been for some time. (see Pipes and Tobacco Magazine, Summer 2006 issue, page 40).