Cadbury becomes Olympic sponsor

Confectionery giant Cadbury is to be a sponsor of the 2012 London Olympic Games, it has been announced.

The firm based in Bournville, Birmingham, will provide all confectionery and ice cream sold at venues and within the Olympic Park.

The Games' organisers have now raised £430m of the £2bn sponsorship target.

But the move has prompted criticism from the National Obesity Forum, which warned the sponsorship could encourage children to eat unhealthy foods.

London 2012's Paul Deighton, said: "There has been a surge of interest in London 2012 and I'm thrilled that Cadbury, another great and trusted British brand, has come on board.

'Extremely impressionable'

Todd Stitzer from Cadbury said: "For nearly 200 years, Cadbury has been part of the fabric of British life so we are extremely proud to be a sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Currently there are seven tier one sponsors; Adidas, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF Energy, Lloyds TSB and Nortel.

Tier one sponsors donate about £40m; tier two organisations - of which Cadbury is one - donate about £20m; and tier three firms, of which there are none yet, give about £10m.

Cadbury was also an official supplier of the Sydney Games in 2000, as well as the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and Melbourne in 2006.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: "I would be very concerned that it [Cadbury sponsoring the Games] is encouraging children to eat chocolate because it is all part of the promotion of unhealthy food to children.

"Whether you like it or not, children of a certain again, around seven or eight, are extremely impressionable about the message they get from advertising."

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