Swisher International and its sister company, Drew Estate, have hired Nick van Olden as vice president of corporate tobacco procurement. In this newly established role, van Olden will coordinate tobacco procurement for Drew Estate’s premium cigar line and assist Swisher’s procurement efforts for its mass-market cigar and smokeless products.
Nick van Olden started his career with Harkema in Amsterdam and worked with the company internationally for 16 years. Nick then worked for Consolidated Cigar Company (CCC) where he rose to the position of senior vice president. Nick left CCC after more than a decade and worked most recently as senior vice president for ITG.
“When Nick explained that he was looking for a new challenge, we knew we had a unique opportunity to add a true professional to our team. Nick brings over 30 years of industry and procurement experience and will supplement the efforts of both Drew and Swisher to provide our customers with the highest quality tobacco products available,” explained Swisher’s CEO Peter Ghiloni.
Drew Estate’s president, Michael Cellucci, commented: “The addition of Nick to our team reflects Swisher’s desire to support our goal of becoming the number one premium cigar company. Nick offers procurement expertise that a growing company like Drew has never had in the past.”
Drew Estate had been sold to Swisher International in October 2014. Cellucci described Drew Estate’s working releations with it’s new owner as Swisher fulfilling their commitment to allowing Drew to operate autonomously.
