K-food stores and the Finnish Basketball Association to start cooperation in 2015
KESKO FOOD LTD PRESS RELEASE 30.12.2014 AT 10.00
K-food stores and the Finnish Basketball Association have signed a cooperation agreement on acting as partners of the basketball youth national teams and the children and youth teams of the Finnish Basketball Association.
The cooperation will focus on children and youths and will provide new tools to local basketball clubs for developing operations. At the same time, the Finnish Basketball Association will make the ”Wolf” brand, which has gained a strong position thanks to the success of “The Wolf Gang”, aka the men’s national team, available to basketball clubs.
– Finnish basketball is experiencing great times and the new cooperation with K-food stores is yet another significant step forward. We are extremely happy that a major operator like Kesko shares our basic values and wants to join us in making people move more and to invest in the future – children and youths, says Vesa Walldén, Secretary General of the Finnish Basketball Association.
In 2015, the Finnish Basketball Association, basketball clubs and local K-food stores will arrange, for example, basketball events and “Little Wolves” basketball classes for primary school aged children throughout Finland. The aim is to promote the wellbeing of children, youths and families and to encourage young people to move more.
– We are very excited about this new cooperation. A local K-food retailer is already today an important partner for many hobby activity and charity operators. Therefore it was natural to widen cooperation, says Ari Akseli, Kesko Food Vice President for Commerce.
The cooperation will support the objectives of Kesko’s responsibility work and the principle to primarily participate in sponsorship initiatives related to the everyday lives and wellbeing of families with children. All K-food stores and Pirkka participate in this cooperation which will also highlight the Blue and White Footprint sign of the ongoing campaign for Finnish work run by K-food stores.
Further information: Ari Akseli, Vice President for Commerce, Kesko Food, tel. +358 50 502 3612 Vesa Walldén, Secretary General, the Finnish Basketball Association, tel. +358 440 465 028
Kesko Food is a central operator in the Finnish grocery trade and its chains are K-citymarket, K-supermarket, K-market and K-extra. K-food retailers, with whom Kesko Food applies the efficient chain business model, are responsible for customer satisfaction at more than 900 K-food stores. K-food stores participate closely in local communities, they promote healthy eating habits and offer wide selections of sustainably produced products. Kesko Food and K-food stores want to provide good workplaces and continuously work to save energy and the climate. We also encourage our employees, suppliers and customers to make responsible choices. Let’s do good. Together.
The Finnish Basketball Association, member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA, organises national basketball competitions, hobby activities and training. More than 12,000 games are organised annually in basketball series throughout Finland. The Finnish Basketball Association sends annually ten national age category teams to international courts to represent Finland and leave their blue and white footprints.
