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When plagiarism attempts reach Cuban coffee

Weeks ago, images of a website that promoted Cubita coffee, a Cuban brand recognized in the world, were circulating on social networks, at $ 0.98 per package. The price of the assortment, precisely, raised the first suspicions.

When plagiarism attempts reach Cuban coffee
03 Mar 2021

How was it possible that merchandise was being sold at that price, when a 230 gram bag of said product was delivered by Cuba to its commercial partners with a price of around 2.20 and 2.30 USD? Plagiarism has always existed, and more so when it comes to products in great demand in the international market, with a widely recognized quality, as is the case of Cuban coffee, explained to Granma Ruslan Díaz González, manager of UEB Exports, belonging to the Cimex corporation. "The important thing in this type of situation is that we - as exporters -, together with the commercial partner abroad, take certain actions, both commercial and legal, to eliminate this possible counterfeiting within the market." This is how we have acted in this case, he asserted. The alert, said the manager, came to us through social networks and online publications, where the commercialization of Cubita coffee packages that are not the originals was shown, at first in markets in the United States, and later in Canada. , a country to which we do export this product. When we reviewed the characteristics of the bag, according to the image that the site showed, and when we analyzed the sale price, we immediately realized that it was plagiarism, he pointed out. «All Cuban products, and specifically those that are marketed by Cimex, meet the standards of an identity manual. This allows, among other elements, to determine its origin and authenticity ”. In the case of Cubita coffee, we sell it in different assortments: 230, 250, 460, 500 and a thousand grams of roasted coffee, either ground or beans; and all containers, regardless of weight, respond to the same design, with a vertical format, specified Díaz González. "However, when reviewing the publication on the website, we realized that the bag was horizontal and rectangular - which no longer matches the identity of our coffee - and also did not meet other packaging requirements." For example, he explained, the bags did not have the My First stamp, which characterizes 100% Cuban products, and which is located on the front of the bag. The colors and slogan typical of Cubita coffee were not well represented, nor were the exclusive seal of the company that sells this product in the international market, he added. "It is usual that, in the face of the attempted counterfeiting, the final customers of the Cuban products that are exported, make a personalization of the bag, which allows the merchandise to be recognized against possible plagiarism, and thus protect the brand." On the other hand, the price at which the product was being sold had no correspondence whatsoever, not even with those for export. Cubita coffee has a characteristic in terms of price formation, and that is that all associated costs are included: production, transportation, storage, logistics, etc., which give you a sale price, explained Suris Valmaña to Granma Mali, legal director of the Cimex Corporation. “In addition, many of our clients, including Canada, place a certain tax on marketing, based on analyzing their logistics costs as well. Therefore, the final price can never be less than 2.20 USD. " At this time, she added, the Corporation is immersed in an investigation process from a commercial point of view, which allows it to obtain sufficient elements to assess legal actions, which we would be conducting through our industrial property agent Clain S.A.


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