The story of a shrewd countryman from Minas who, on discovering he had little skill for rolling his own smokes, began hiring help to have the cigarettes prepared. Alert to the opportunity, José Haroldo Vasconcelos saw a market to be explored: Souza Paiol was born in 1998, in Pitangui, Minas Gerais.
A story made in Pitangui.
Created in 1998 in Pitangui, Souza Paiol built its trajectory from a local initiative connected to work and the culture of inland Minas Gerais. The ingredients receive no additional mixture and are carefully selected and inspected at the acquisition, refining and preparation stages.
In the beginning a few small boxes were made, already with a defined style, and distributed to bars in town and nearby — the start of the straw cigarette trade in the area. In March 1999, formally registered as a small company, production moved to scale without ceasing to be entirely handmade.
The name came from joining the family surname with an element of rural life: the paiol, the barn where corn is stored. Before long, Souza Paiol was known across the country.
1998
Souza Paiol begins in Pitangui from a local initiative led by José Haroldo Vasconcelos.
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MAR. 1999
The activity is formalized as a microenterprise and the operation enters a new stage of organization.
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TRAJECTORY
The company broadens its activity while keeping Pitangui and inland Minas Gerais as references of origin.
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TODAY
Its origin remains a central part of Souza Paiol’s institutional identity and memory.
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The company today
Roots that support the future.
We preserve what brought us here while continuing to invest in what matters: people, processes and long-term relationships.
The assembly line employs both direct and indirect workers. Today Souza Paiol stands as a typically mineira company, quietly making its own space.
Mission — To manufacture by hand, with quality, efficiency, responsibility and commitment, incorporating the best of the ingredients at every stage of the process.
Vision — To maintain leadership in the Brazilian straw cigarette market in a responsible way, carrying out our work with excellence and simplicity, focused on results.
⌾Origin
Pitangui, Minas Gerais.
⌖Presence
A contemporary presence with local roots.
✋Craft
Control and care stage by stage.