LONDON, UK – The UK’s love of coffee and tennis are set to collide once again come 27 June 2016 as 600 Lavazza-trained baristas descend on the prestigious lawns of Wimbledon to serve up to one million cups of authentic Italian coffee to this year’s eager tennis-loving crowds.
For Lavazza, Wimbledon is more than a sporting competition – it’s a consummate social event brimming with shared values of tradition and pure excellence.
Similarly, coffee is more than a drink; it’s a social ritual, a way of life, and now an established fixture of Wimbledon on par with Champagne and strawberries and cream.
Lavazza is working with iconic British photographer Martin Parr of Magnum Photos for the second year to convey Wimbledon’s coffee culture through his distinguished lens.
Parr says of the advertising campaign: “My intention is to show the spirit of Wimbledon, from the Queues in the morning, to the dedication in following the tennis and of course the social occasion of it all.”
Throughout Wimbledon fortnight (27 June – 10 July 2016) the Lavazza coffee break will be served at over 60 service points from 200 coffee machines and is free to enjoy while tennis fans form the world’s most famous queue.
To keep queue-goers cool as afternoon temperatures soar, Lavazza has partnered with Häagen-Dazs to serve traditional Italian Affogatos (ice cream ‘drowned’ in coffee) for an hour each day.
For the first time, Lavazza is collaborating with the innovators behind Ripple It to allow fans to customise their actual cappuccinos and lattes with special messages and photos, meaning they can support their favourite players whilst enjoying a caffeine kick.
Lavazza ambassadors Toni Nadal and Judy Murray – accompanied for the first time by Jamie Murray – are expected to make a special guest appearance on Wednesday 29 June, handing energy-boosting Lavazza coffee to those eagerly waiting in the queue.
The ambassadors will be accompanied by Group Vice Presidents Marco and Giuseppe Lavazza, who together proudly state: “In the same way that Lavazza is an icon of coffee in Italy and worldwide, Wimbledon is an icon of tennis in the United Kingdom and across the globe. Coffee forms part of the social fabric of our lives just as much as Wimbledon is the most iconic social occasion on the British sporting calendar.”
Lavazza, the official coffee partner of all Grand Slams, has had the backing of an unprecedented list of ambassadors to bring the worlds of coffee and tennis together.
These include former tennis players Pat Cash and Annabel Croft, world no. 2, Goran Ivanisevic, promising young Australian player Thanasi Kokkinakis, Italian tennis icon Adriano Panatta, and former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who famously shared a Lavazza coffee break at the 2015 US Open with the winner of a global social media competition.
The iconic Italian coffee break is now available at all four Grand Slam events (Wimbledon, the US Open, Roland Garros and the Australian Open), offering tennis lovers around the world an experience of Italian culture in the form of excellence service and a unique product.
