The Quesada family has been a part of the tobacco world for over a century. When they first arrived in Cuba from Spain they were bakers. It was in the mid-1880s that they began their tobacco business when a debt to the family was paid with tobacco.

Antero Gonzalez and his brother started a leaf purchasing company. At the beginning of the century the brothers split ways and established separate companies and became the two largest exporters of Cuban tobacco, from Cuba to international markets. They have been competing in the world market ever since through several generations.

When they were forced into exile due to the Cuban Revolution and had to leave everything behind, they moved their business to the Dominican Republic. Here Manuel Quesada Gonzalez bought warehouses and established the tobacco leaf business in the island. After a few years Alvaro Quesada Penabad and Manuel Quesada Penabad would begin working with their father in the warehouses. Soon the family would become involved in the manufacturing of cigars embarking on the journey that proved to be the beginning of a new era for the Quesadas.

Manufactura de Tabacos (MATASA), S.A. was born in 1974 as a small operation with three rollers and Manuel Quesada running the venture. Over the years the Quesadas have witnessed the growth of the tobacco industry as well as the company that has been a part of their lives for so many years.

Matasa manufactures some of the finest cigars in the world: Fonseca, Cubita, Jose Benito, Casa Blanca, Licenciados, La Primera, Royal Dominicana, Ricos Dominicanos among other regional brands that are sold in the U.S. market.

Quality, Consistency and Pride in the work they do continue to be the guiding principles behind every bale of Dominican tobacco they prepare and every cigar that comes out of Matasa.