Since it started its activity in a small colonial building in Perojo street, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Dos Santos has been able to combine tradition and innovation, based on a specialised and highly qualified team. The company’s commitment to its customers, its workers, the quality of its products, safety and the environment is the utmost and this has allowed it to adapt over time with the consequent investments and changes to follow the path of competitiveness.
In addition to its production centre in Gran Canaria, Dos Santos has been expanding its business through the development of a sales structure on the mainland from which it provides direct and personalised service to the network of tobacconists in Spain.
Through institutional support for the promotion of Canary Islands companies abroad, Dos Santos has been opening up new international markets where it exports its products, which are already well established, without ceasing to explore new opportunities for internationalisation with the training and guidance of the institutions.
In 2011, another historic milestone for the company was reached when an agreement was signed to manufacture brands for the major international company Philip Morris, a world leader in the tobacco industry. This agreement led to the transformation of the facilities, implementing very significant improvements in manufacturing processes and standards, as well as in technology and staff training. This collaboration is strengthened year after year with the incorporation of new production lines to meet the demand of the Canary Islands market and other European countries.
New innovative production centre
In 2019 Dos Santos made a significant investment of 9 million euros in the new production plant, which guarantees the incorporation of the latest technologies developed in the tobacco industry sector and the path towards efficiency that will enable it to meet expectations from an environmental point of view.
This new production centre in Gran Canaria has led to a 30% increase in production capacity, a reduction in production costs by improving process efficiency and the adoption of energy saving measures through the implementation of renewable energies.
In addition, the latest information and communication technologies have been implemented to monitor and control production and organisational processes in compliance with European regulations on the traceability of tobacco products.
The increase in production capacity and greater efficiency has allowed the installation of machinery for the manufacture of new product formats in order to meet the demand of customers in foreign markets.
Quality
Since its foundation in 1921, Dos Santos has aimed to offer the best tobacco products, adapting to the different circumstances that have arisen throughout its 100 years of life. Its capacity to adapt to an ever-changing context and continuous improvement as an essential value have been the compass for maintaining its position as a benchmark in tobacco production in the Canary Islands. Among other tools, two management systems have been implemented:
– In 2003, the management of Dos Santos decided to implement a Quality Management System in accordance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 9001. This not only improves product control, but also the management of the organisation, with a greater orientation of the processes towards the customer.
This system is applied to all departments of the company in a transversal way (HR, commercial activity, etc…) identifying the impact that each of them has on the product and customer satisfaction. We try to exceed our customer’s expectations.
– In 2010, Dos Santos decided to implement an Environmental Management System in accordance with the international ISO 14001 standard. This not only confirms its commitment to its customers, but also to the environment and, ultimately, to society as a whole. The standard covers aspects such as exhaustive environmental legal compliance, the identification of any element that may interact with the environment, the control of these aspects, etc…
Both systems are integrated, i.e. they work as a single system that takes into account the requirements of both standards, so that in each activity the quality of the product and its impact on customer satisfaction as well as the environmental impact it may entail are taken into consideration.
The organisation maintains certification for both systems, which is reviewed annually, demonstrating year on year the continuous improvement of its management systems.
Sales network
Dos Santos has its own sales network in mainland Spain called Artobacco Promotion, dedicated to the sale of its products, a portfolio of 30 references divided into different segments (cigarettes, mechanised cigars, manual cigars and cigarillos).
