IRFU Scores Aldi Renewal

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has penned a four-year partnership extension with German supermarket chain Aldi.

The renewal, which sees Aldi remain as the IRFU’s official fresh food partner, is set to run until 2028 and covers both the men’s and women’s national rugby union teams.

Aldi first partnered with the national governing body in 2016, when it sponsored the ‘Aldi Play Rugby’ nationwide initiative which helps encourage primary school children to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

The IRFU and Aldi also hosted their largest Play Rugby festival to-date at the Aviva Stadium last May, where 20 schools were invited to take part in on-field activations.

The partnership has also seen the launch of the Rugby Stickers competition in 2019, which has offered more than €700,000 (£599,300) in prize money to primary schools. The multinational firm has also provided more than 15,000 Play Rugby equipment sets for more than 2000 schools across Ireland.

Commenting on the partnership extension, Michael Collopy, Chair of the IRFU’s Commercial & Marketing Committee, said, “Both brands are committed to championing a healthy lifestyle and in 2021, we even collaborated on Home, a cookbook featuring healthy, family-friendly recipes, that raised money for Aldi’s charity partner, Barnardos.

“Aldi enables families across Ireland to eat well for less and we are proud to have them as part of our team.”

The multinational supermarket firm recently expanded its longstanding agreement with Team GB, which will cover the next three editions of the Olympic Games at Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028, and Brisbane 2032.

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