Asia's largest dairy brand, Amul seems to have got the taste of global events. After having sponsored Netherlands' cricket team in the ICC cricket world cup this year, the "Taste of India' has decided to be the official partner of Switzerland-headquartered Sauber F1 team at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, which is slated to be flagged off from October 28.
The Amul logos will appear on the rear wing, front face and the drivers' helmets. The Sauber F1 Team's race drivers in 2011 are Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez. Apart from this, several product integrations too are being planned.
"The Indian Grand Prix is a global event and Amul is India's largest dairy and milk products maker. Considering the global appeal, we at Amul thought that we should also associate with this global event," said RS Sodhi, managing director, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns and markets Amul brand of milk and milk products.
According to Amul, this association with Sauber F1 Team will enhance Amul’s global brand presence. Currently, there is no food brand associated with any F1 team with on-car presence.
"We are proud that we can announce this partnership with Amul, one of India’s leading brands. Amul products are present in practically every household," said Monisha Kaltenborn, chief executive of the Sauber F1 Team.
Peter Sauber founded his company, PP Sauber AG, in 1970 for the design and construction of racing sportscars. In 1988, Sauber became the Mercedes works team in the sportscar world championship. One year later, Sauber-Mercedes celebrated a one-two victory in the famous 24-hours race at Le Mans and won the world championship title for drivers and teams only one year later.
The Sauber Team has been in Formula One since 1993. In 2007 the team finished second in the constructors world championship, and in 2008 Robert Kubica won the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Nick Heidfeld. The Sauber F1 Team’s race drivers in 2011 are Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez.
The Rs 10,700 crore GCMMF is the country's largest food products marketing organisation. It procures 4 billion litres of milk annually from 3 million milk producers in more than 15,000 villages, and processes and markets its product range comprising butter, cheese, ice cream, fresh milk, yoghurt, milk powders, UHT milk, flavoured milk, ghee, paneer etc in 3,000 cities and towns of India and 40 countries around the world.
"Amul’s vision for success through teamwork, technology, speed and innovation matches the core values of Formula One. Technology has been the driving force for over six decades at Amul, be it for breed improvement, IT integration at village level for procurement and processing of milk. The association with the Sauber F1 Team in the Indian Grand Prix will enhance Amul’s global brand presence and put it on the global map," added RS Sodhi.
