Lajpat Nagar, Delhi — Lavazza has announced that it has become the Official Coffee of The Championships, Wimbledon for a three year period 
The deal will see the Italian coffee brand being supplied across 60 service points at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, including 13 public cafés and restaurants, all hospitality areas and the media centre, as well as serving all officials and players.
Giuseppe Lavazza, vice president and strategic marketing director, said, “We decided to become a partner because tennis, and Wimbledon’s values, are so consistent with Lavazza’s – amongst them heritage, tradition, authenticity and an excellent experience. In Italy, Lavazza is as iconic in terms of coffee as Wimbledon is for tennis in the UK. Coffee is very much part of the social fabric of life and Wimbledon is a major social occasion, as well as a world class tennis event.”
All sports lovers attending the event will have the chance to enjoy authentic espresso, the emblem of the “Italian way of life”, embodied by Lavazza worldwide.
Michael Desmond, commercial director of The All England Lawn Tennis Club said:“We are delighted to have entered into this partnership with Lavazza. Wimbledon and Lavazza share the same enthusiasm for high standards and quality of product, as well as a determination to enhance the values for which out two brands are renowned. Lavazza will bring Italian style and, as importantly, its distinctive flavor which will enhance the Wimbledon experience for all our visitors.”
At the coffee shops and café points in the Wimbledon circuit, Lavazza will offer coffee products that are bound to satisfy the tastes of the thousands of tennis-loving spectators who flock to Wimbledon’s famous courts every year.
The partnership will be supported by a UK focused advertising campaign in print and outdoor media, as well as in-store competitions with selected outlets and sampling for Wimbledon spectators – the tournament attracts around 500,000 spectators each year. Lavazza will also communicate its partnership with Wimbledon through a European wide print, outdoor and online media advertising campaign. In addition, Lavazza will launch a brand new, global website dedicated to the partnership, as well as several consumer promotions.
Luca Piccini, managing director of Lavazza UK said: “This is a major initiative for us – apart from serving hundreds of thousands of coffees during the tournament, we expect to see a spike in sales across our food service outlets. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate Lavazza’s strength in the away from home market. As well as being Italy’s favourite coffee, Lavazza is also a firm favourite among Londoners, where it is brand leader with a 14 per cent share of the roasted coffee market in the region. The sampling programme will give even more people the opportunity to try Lavazza and to be convinced they want to reproduce the experience at home.”
Lavazza is known for its support of prestigious international events in the areas of sport, culture and the arts including, for example, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as well as its association with London Fashion Week, which has lasted for 16 seasons.
In Italy, Lavazza is sponsoring the country’s 150th anniversary celebrations, a major event which is due to begin on 17 March in Turin, Lavazza’s hometown and Italy’s original capital until 1861. This year also sees the 20th anniversary of the famous Lavazza Calendar which, over the years, has featured the work of famous photographers such as Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, David LaChapelle and, in 2011, Mark Seliger.