SHEFFIELD, England / HERBRECHTINGEN, Germany — November 2025
Ramon Emilio Peralta of Protabaco spent November 2025 based at the company’s European hub in Sarmenstorf, Switzerland, and used the month to do something a video call cannot replace: walk the factory floors of both manufacturers whose components Protabaco holds in Santiago. He was accompanied on both visits by Reto Walter Iten, founder and Managing Director of RIM Tobacco Machinery & Spares (Reto Iten Metals AG) and a partner in Protabaco.
The Arkote agreement had been signed in July. The Esband discussions were well advanced. Neither visit was strictly necessary. That was rather the point.
“These are companies with real trajectory,” Peralta said. “You have to respect that, and you have to invest in knowing them. Talking through the details face to face is better than a video call.”
Sheffield, November 21
At Arkote Ltd.’s facility at Parkway Rise, Peralta and Iten were walked through the manufacturing process by Managing Director Peter Russell Oxspring, Commercial Director Robert Andrews and the wider team — quality controls, safety practice, and a product range considerably broader than Peralta had expected.
What struck him was the balance. Older machines still in service, maintained because they hold something essential to how Arkote works. And, elsewhere in the plant, automated systems utilising the latest technology.
The company’s history is on the walls and in the corridors — photographs of the Parkway Rise building before and after construction, images of Lee Bassett, and the record of a business whose first tobacco knife sale was recorded on 5 April 1881. Arkote holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 accreditation and was awarded an EcoVadis Silver rating in May 2025, placing it in the top 15% of companies assessed worldwide.
The impression Peralta took away was of a company that reads as familiar to him: open-plan offices, results-oriented, working as a team. He met both the administrative and plant teams, and returned to Santiago with Arkote materials for distribution to customers in the Dominican Republic.
Herbrechtingen, November 27
At Max Schlatterer GmbH & Co. KG — known industry-wide as Esband — Peralta and Iten were hosted by Head of Sales Tobacco Denis Maier, who led the commercial session. Managing Director Jens Färber’s contribution was short and precise. Technical Sales Tobacco Manuel Illenberger presented the technical side: product improvements and new versions developed to cover a wider range of machines across the industry.
Esband is the world market leader in garniture and suction tapes for tobacco manufacturing, a third-generation family business employing approximately 700 people and manufacturing its complete range in-house in Germany using a seamless production method that guarantees homogeneous material properties throughout the belt. The company holds DIN EN ISO 9001 and DIN EN ISO 14001 certification.
The plant itself was the argument. Advanced production technology, tightly established processes, exceptional hygiene, natural light throughout, everything in its place and everything working.
The technical detail was where Peralta learned most: coatings, material specifications, newer belt constructions engineered to withstand higher production rates, and belts Esband manufactures for machine brands he had not previously associated with the company. The session also covered Esband’s industrial and conveyor belt range.
The questions ran both ways. Esband wanted to understand Protabaco’s reach, structure, operating dynamics and projection in the Dominican market.
What the week changed
Between them, the two manufacturers Peralta visited have been producing for well over two centuries, and both remain family-held. For a distributor, the value of having stood in both plants is less about the products than about what surrounds them.
“You sell with knowledge of what is behind it,” Peralta said. “It is more than products. It is the history, the trajectory, the road travelled, the changes, and the internal knowledge you will never find in a catalogue.”
More visits and in-person meetings are planned.
About Arkote Ltd.
Based at Parkway Rise, Sheffield, England, Arkote is one of the world’s leading suppliers of machine knives to the tobacco industry, with a reputation built over more than 60 years and a corporate history reaching back to 1881, when the original business was founded by Albert Reaney Heathcote as A R Heathcote & Company. Arkote manufactures cigarette, cork and filter cutting knives for Hauni, Molins, G.D., Decouflé and SASIB platforms, alongside Adamantine grinding wheels and discs, and serves customers in over 80 countries. Accredited to ISO 9001 (held since 2010) and ISO 14001:2015. Arkote has been owned by Fi-Tech, Inc. and the Bassett family since 2002. arkote.com
About Max Schlatterer GmbH & Co. KG (Esband)
A third-generation family business based in Herbrechtingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, founded over 75 years ago and employing approximately 700 people. Esband manufactures endless drive, conveyor, format and suction belts, and is the world market leader in garniture and suction tapes for the tobacco sector. All production is carried out in Germany using a seamless manufacturing method that guarantees homogeneous material properties. Certified to DIN EN ISO 9001 and DIN EN ISO 14001, and awarded an EcoVadis bronze medal in 2025. Member of Packaging Valley and the Allianz Faserbasierter Werkstoffe Baden-Württemberg (AFBW). esband.de
About RIM (Reto Iten Metals AG)
RIM Tobacco Machinery & Spares (Reto Iten Metals AG) is a Swiss company specialising in metals and industrial supply, based in Sarmenstorf, Switzerland. Managed by Reto Walter Iten, who is also a partner at Protabaco, RIM supports the group’s European procurement and stock position. iten-metals.com
