The Melitta Group and world renowned English football club Manchester United have expanded their multi-year partnership. Melitta, the club’s official coffee partner, has been announced as one of Manchester United’s global partners. Melitta will now be able to engage with Manchester United’s 659 million global followers and will start to implement various communication and marketing projects with the club around the world. As well as the media presence and numerous rights and services, the partnership is particularly visible at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium. Here, more than 200 Melitta coffee and bean-to-cup machines have been set up in the executive club boxes and catering areas. “At Manchester United we pride ourselves on offering to our fans the best possible experience when visiting Old Trafford. Melitta [has] quickly demonstrated how they can assist us with this aim, by providing premium products and services to the tens of thousands of hospitality visitors we welcome each home game, as well as non matchday visitors who have the opportunity to visit the Red Café supported by Melitta,” says Richard Arnold, Manchester United’s Group Managing Director. “The fans, the hospitality guests and visitors in Old Trafford, but also the staff and players of Manchester United are thrilled by the quality of Melitta coffee and the projects and activities we have implemented together.”
Melitta will create a collection of Manchester United and Melitta-branded coffee machines, coffee beans, cups and other coffee preparation items which will be available for fans to purchase later this season. “After only a few months, the close and trusting relationship with the most successful football club in the world has already delivered results that have exceeded our expectations by far,” says Volker Stühmeier, a member of Melitta’s Chief Corporate Management. “We are able to demonstrate the performance and quality of our products and services in one of the most iconic and tradition-steeped football stadiums in the world under really competitive conditions – and the feedback is terrific.” Since the partnership began in November 2018, on match days alone, Arnold says Manchester United has seen a year-on-year increase of 46 per cent consumption of coffee within its hospitality areas, demonstrating how much its visitors enjoy the Melitta coffee experience available at the stadium. The internationally family-owned Melitta Group celebrates its 111-year-anniversary in 2019. Melitta Professional Coffee Solutions specialises in supplying equipment for professional hot beverage preparation in the system and non-system catering segments. Its core business areas are the development, production and global marketing of fully automatic machines for coffee specialties and filter coffee machines.
