About Mario Takeyama
Mario is the founder and Executive Producer of Cigar Explorer. A former corporate executive at Sony, he oversaw the entire supply chain management process, including manufacturing, distribution, retailer/wholeseller and online merchants.
Mario has designed and implemented successful sales and marketing collaborations with multiple Fortune 500 sales channels. Mario has conducted hundreds of advertising campaigns for Fortune 500 corporations and internet marketing seminars around the world for small to mid-sized corporate clients and entrepreneurs. He is a renaissance man, having worked and/or lived in Japan, the United States, Hong Kong, Europe (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Holland), Singapore and Cuba.
Mario's passion for cigars begin in 1996, on his 30th birthday, in an internationally mixed community in Hong Kong. Mario's wife worked as a public relations executive and was surrounded by successful business men and a vibrant art culture, where fine dining, wine and cigars were plentiful. Upon the urging of his wife Mario tried his first cigar, a Cuban Partagas Series D No. 4.
It wasn't long before he had tried every premium cigar he could get his hands on. Mario marveled at the natural relationship between cigar culture and the various business functions and black tie events he would regularly attend. Mario soon became aware of the shortage of hi-end Cuban cigars and became an International Cigar Broker for the hi-end Japanese marketplace.
Utilizing his international savvy and growing business network, Mario’s firm grew substantially and he was invited to tour cigar factories and plantations of Cuba.
In the native home of cigars Mario polished his knowledge and understanding of the entire cigar marketplace.
Recent entries by Mario Takeyama:
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