Saputo Named Official Packaged Dairy Supplier For 2010 Games

VANOC has signed a five-year, C$3M deal with Quebec-based dairy processor Saputo, naming the company the official supplier of packaged dairy products for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, according to Damian Inwood of the Vancouver PROVINCE. Under the deal, which is "made up of cash and merchandise," Saputo also will supply dairy products for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams, as well as for the athletes villages during the 2010 Games. Saputo CEO Lino Saputo Jr. said, "From a marketing perspective, this partnership with the 2010 Winter Games will allow us to convey the official-supplier mark on a selection of our products" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 1/24). With the Saputo deal, VANOC is 90% of the way to "reaching its goal to raise $760[M] in cash or in-kind merchandise from corporate sponsors" (VANCOUVER SUN, 1/24).

TICKET, PLEASE: Tickets.com Thursday signed a five-year deal with VANOC to become the official ticket services supplier for the 2010 Vancouver Games (VANOC). VANOC VP/Ticketing Caley Denton said that it was the company's "experience and a bar-code ticketing system that will allow for easy redistribution of tickets that won Olympic organizers over." In Vancouver, Derrick Penner notes "the main access point for tickets," which will go on sale in October, will be VANOC's Web site. Denton said that VANOC has "established a register for people to sign up to receive information on tickets, so it made sense to keep the site the focal point for sales." Denton added that VANOC is "working with Tickets.com to set up alternative sales channels, such as a phone line and kiosks" (VANCOUVER SUN, 1/25).

VANOC GOES GREEN: In Toronto, Deena Kamel Yousef Hussein writes the 2010 Olympics are "pushing to be the first carbon-neutral Games at a cost that [VANOC] plans to cover in fundraising." The David Suzuki Foundation yesterday released a report, commissioned and funded by VANOC, "outlining recommendations worth about $5[M] to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions associated with the Games," including "air travel, transportation at the Games and energy use" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/25).