Premier League managing director Richard Masters (left) hailed the new partnership with Cadbury's Francesco Vitrano.
Cadbury has teamed up with the Premier League on a three-year partnership, which will extend its work in promoting healthy lifestyles to children in the UK.
Through the partnership, Cadbury will join forces with the Premier League to deliver a bespoke element of Mondelēz International’s existing community programme Health for Life, which is currently focused on making a sustained difference to the lifestyles of 60,000 school-aged children in the UK.
Cadbury and the Premier League will work together to create new, tailored modules focussed on healthy lifestyles, expanding the programme’s reach to inspire young people in schools across the country, they said.
The partnership will kick off from the start of the 2017-18 season this summer.
Cadbury brand director Francesco Vitrano said: “For over a hundred years, Cadbury has been about bringing little moments of joy to people’s lives, something that fits well with the joy created by Premier League football every day – whether it’s a moment of magic that turns a match, watching a game together with loved ones or just debating the weekend’s goals with friends.
“This partnership opens up fantastic opportunities to bring those moments of joy to life in new and different ways – in-store, on our packaging, in the community and other ways we hope will surprise and delight our customers. This is an incredibly exciting chance to bring together the Cadbury brand with the unmistakable Premier League brand, and a chance to be part of moments such as the Golden Boot and Golden Glove awards, and we can’t wait to start this journey with the Premier League.”
But the partnership has been slammed by advocacy groups including Action on Sugar and the National Obesity Forum, who said that the Premier League doesn’t need a chocolate manufacturer in order to promote healthy lifestyles to the UK’s children.
National Obesity Forum spokesman Tam Fry said: “Since the Premier League is rich enough to do this on its own anyway, and Cadbury could be looking at a downturn in the confectionery market, we regard this as little more than a marketing ploy.”
Campaigners have also suggested that it is inappropriate for a confectioner to be associated with a sporting competition like the Premier League – the highest level of professional men’s football in England and Wales – echoing similar sentiment to Cadbury’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Premier League managing director Richard Masters added: “We are very pleased to be entering into a new partnership with Cadbury – one of the country’s most iconic and well-known brands.
“Cadbury’s popularity across the world, and our shared focus on delivering moments of joy, make this a great fit for the Premier League and we are thrilled they have chosen to work with us in what is their first ever partnership in football.
“We are really looking forward to working with Cadbury to celebrate the excitement of the competition, and on the plans we have to jointly grow and enhance their Health for Life project as part of the Premier League’s wide-ranging community work.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024