the state of rio de janeiro is home to three cigarette companies, with various brands that have remained in the country, and other that have departed.

the oldest brand of cigarettes in rio is veado, founded by portuguese immigrant jose francisco correia in the late 1800s, after having worked in a cigarette factory in niterói - he began to produce veado to replicate the quality of french cigarettes, eventually coming out with the monroe line, which it is best known for.

the next major tobacco company that was established was souza cruz - of the 10 top-selling cigarette brands in brazil, six of them are part of the souza cruz brand portfolio. 

the most popular are derby, hollywood, free, and dunhill - derby is considered brazil's number one best-seller, holding the position since its launch in 1993 with approximately one-third of the market share for all cigarettes sold in the country.