This category covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing cigarettes from tobacco or other materials.
The cigar industry has experienced dramatic growth in recent years thanks to increasing acceptance of cigar smoking among the "Generation X" population, a resurgence in "cigar evenings," and the popularity of the Internet where cigars are being sold in record numbers. The magazine Cigar Aficionado, introduced in 1992, is generally credited with the upturn in the cigar industry.
In the early 2000s the $1.8 billion U.S. smokeless tobacco industry continued to be dominated by UST Inc., the largest manufacturer and distributor of chewing tobacco and snuff in the United States with $1.74 billion in 2003 sales.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 25 establishments were engaged in the stemming and redrying of tobacco in late 1990s.