I don't believe in co-incidence, but I had just finished eating a cheese sandwich at lunchtime today (Le Gruyère of course - I always try to support curling sponsors, hope you do too!), when in my email is an announcement from Infront Sports & Media that Le Gruyère AOCSwitzerland is to sponsor the European Curling Championships for the next two years. A bit spooky, especially as I don't have a cheese sandwich for my lunch very often!
The sponsorship covers Aberdeen (December 4-12) of course, as well as Champery in Switzerland in 2010.
The press release (which you can read here in full) includes, "The brand will have title rights as follows: Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2009 in Aberdeen (Scotland) and the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2010 in Champéry (Switzerland). The entire Eurosport TV inventory will belong to Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland and the advertising opportunities will be optimized, including a new positioning to the under-ice advertising which gives better visibility."
Philippe Bardet, Director of Le Gruyère, said, "There is an excellent fit between curling and Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland, which is why we have supported this sport for so many years. With our home base in Switzerland, this association gives us a great opportunity to support the event all over Europe and emphasis the unique Swiss appeal of the brand. Great Britain is also an important market for us and we will activate our broad range of rights on-site."
Now, listen up, here are the important facts for the next time you are tucking into a cheese sandwich. Le Gruyère AOC is a hard cheese produced in the western part of Switzerland, with a characteristic taste obtained from the best quality unpasteurized milk coming straight from cows grazing on grass. Depending on the age of the cheese, which has a maturation time between five and eighteen months, it develops more and more character. The cheese is produced with the milk of 2,800 milk producers, manufactured by 185 cheese makers and sold by ten refiners. The name is derived from the region of Gruyère in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg, the historic capital and the site of the medieval castle of the counts of Gruyère. The product was first referred to in the writings of Count Guillaume de Gruyère in 1115, and was first called Gruyère in 1602.
For further information go here.
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Ah yes, expect an announcement of the draw for the Aberdeen European Championships soon (perhaps here on the event website) as ECF delegates are meeting in Prague today. Another thing on their agenda is to decide how the European Championship should be organised in the future.
