Posted: October 15, 2005

Triathlon: PowerBar and Ironman Announce Global Sponsorship Agreement

First Global Sports Marketing Partnership for Both Organizations Strategically Designed to Provide Performance Nutrition to Athletes Worldwide

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- PowerBar, a division of Nestle S.A., and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), owners of the Ironman brand, announced an exclusive three-year global sponsorship agreement yesterday from the 2005 Ford Ironman World Championship, the world's most challenging endurance event. The deal designates PowerBar as the Official Global Energy Bar and Energy Gel Sponsor from 2006 through 2008 for all U.S. and international Ironman qualifying events, the Ironman 70.3 series, and the Ford Ironman World Championship.*

For PowerBar, creator and worldwide leader of the estimated US$1.9 billion international sports nutrition bar category, the partnership with the world's leading triathlon brand marks the company's first international sports marketing deal.(1) This strategic alignment will further Nestle's goal of achieving worldwide leadership in the rapidly growing sport nutrition category. Through the agreement, PowerBar will leverage the international Ironman program as a platform for its sports nutrition education initiatives and will support the sponsorship via advertising, promotions and sports marketing. POWERBAR(R) PERFORMANCE energy bars and POWERBAR(R) POWERGEL(R) energy gels, endorsed as Official Products of Ironman, will be on-course at more than 40 Ironman events in more than 17 countries each year to deliver essential sports nutrition to Ironman competitors.

Partners such as Timex, Ford, FosterGrant, Cannondale and Keys Fitness have made Ironman the number-one user-based sports brand in the world. These partnerships continue to help meet the needs of Ironman athletes as well as the active consumer. The nutritional needs of Ironman athletes are vast, with more than 25,000 units of PowerBar product being consumed on Ironman race day alone. Athletes training for Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events will make PowerBar products a key component of their training regimen, as athletes recognize the importance of training and racing with sports nutrition products that deliver consistent results.

"The new global partnership builds on a terrific relationship we've enjoyed with Ironman for years. It not only allows PowerBar to expand its range of technical sports nutrition resources into new markets, but also officially provides all Ironman athletes with the same critical PowerBar race-day nutrition tools that they've relied on throughout their training," said Philip Annett, Global Business Head for Performance Nutrition at Nestle Nutrition. "We look forward to collaborative marketing and education initiatives designed to support the world's top endurance athletes and to expand the sport of triathlon and both our brands to a wider international athletic community."

PowerBar's heritage with the sport of triathlon traces back to the company's beginning. U.S. triathlete legend Scott Tinley was one of PowerBar's first athlete product testers and sponsored athletes. Over the past twenty years, thousands of triathletes worldwide have come to rely on PowerBar's sports nutrition products for training and competition, including 2004 Ironman Triathlon World Champion Normann Stadler and three-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion Peter Reid. PowerBar is the proud sponsor of more than 55 competitors at the October 15th Ford Ironman World Championship event.

"Ironman and PowerBar are both synonymous with authenticity, excellence and performance. Ironman athletes have used PowerBar as an integral part of their training and race needs for years. Thus, Ironman and PowerBar are a natural fit for both brands' first-ever global sponsorship," said Andy Giancola, Ironman Sponsorship and Licensing Manager.

About Ironman
The Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run completed in succession within a 17-hour allotted timeframe. Each year, more than 50,000 athletes compete for slots in the Ford Ironman World Championship, held every October in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. In June, WTC launched the Ironman 70.3 Series, a global series of events that consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike and a 13.1-mile run totaling 70.3 miles. The series will culminate with a world championship event in November 2006 in Clearwater, Florida. Throughout Ironman's 28-year history, Ironman has transformed from an event into a lifestyle and sports brand that includes licensed products and television production. Ironman has global reach with more than 40 events worldwide. Millions may remember moments in Ironman history such as Julie Moss' crawl to the finish line in 1982, which was showcased on ABC's Wide World of Sports. A global brand, Ironman has been featured in a range of media outlets to include NBC, CNN Headline News, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, Entertainment Tonight and USA Today. This year's Ford Ironman World Championship will air on NBC on November 12 at 4:30 p.m. EST. For more information on Ironman, log on to IronmanLive.com.

About PowerBar
PowerBar is the creator and worldwide leader of the international sports nutrition bar category. PowerBar is owned by Nestle S.A., the world's largest food and beverage company. Backed by decades of sports nutrition experience, PowerBar's product line includes a full spectrum of great-tasting food and beverage options developed to meet the nutrition and energy needs of everyone from athletes to individuals seeking healthy food choices. The company's products are distributed internationally in more than 40 countries. PowerBar proudly fuels world-class athletes and premier events including cyclist Lance Armstrong, swimmer Michael Phelps, triathlete Normann Stadler, the Tour de France, and the Boston and ING New York City Marathons.

About Nestle Nutrition
Nestle Nutrition is an autonomous business operation within Nestle that will manage and develop, as of January 1, 2006, the group's core nutrition business. Through science-based nutritional solutions -- comprising both products and services -- Nestle Nutrition will help enhance the quality of people's lives by supporting health and providing care for specific consumer groups with special nutrition needs at every stage of life. Its product portfolio -- covering infant nutrition, healthcare nutrition and performance nutrition -- includes such trusted and well-recognized brands as POWERBAR, NAN, NIDAL, LACTOGEN, GUIGOZ, NUTREN and PEPTAMEN.

* For Ironman US events excluding the Ford Ironman World Championship, the agreement includes PowerBar energy bars in 2006, and PowerBar energy bars and energy gels in 2007 and 2008.

Source:
1. 2005 ACNielsen market research