Dashen Brewery has announced that they have signed a partnership with English giants Arsenal to become the club’s Official Beer Partner. In a ceremony held today at the Intercontinental Addis, the company announced that the deal will run for the next 3 years.
Devlin Hainsworth, CEO of Dashen Breweries, expressed his delight with the ground breaking deal and expressed his belief that the partnership will have huge benefits to all involved parties.
“As you are aware, in the next few weeks the new Dashen brewery in Debrebirhan will start making and selling beer. To mark this bright new future, our overseas owners, Duet and Vasari, have contributed an additional surprise. They have, with their existing relationship with the football club, secured an exciting and ground breaking partnership deal with Arsenal Football Club. So, from this very moment, Dashen is now the official beer partner of Arsenal football club in Ethiopia for the next 3 seasons.”
“The partnership is very exciting for many reasons. It is very good news for football development in Ethiopia, especially at the grassroots level, because several times each season Arsenal and Dashen will bring to Ethiopia both Arsenal coaches and Arsenal legends to work with the federation to develop local coaches and local playing skills. I think we all know that Arsenal play a very pure passing and skillful game of football. Secondly, it’s good news for football fans here in the country, because it will help bring the English premier league to Ethiopian supporters. We also know that Arsenal have a huge fan base here in the country. We will have fantastic consumer experiences, promotions, and different platforms including digital, and ofcourse Arsenal Legends will come to Ethiopia over the course of the next 3 seasons.”
Hainsworth also said that the new deal will help bring Dashen and its consumers Together.
“Our purpose is delighting consumers, and reaching communities, and enhancing Ethiopian progress. And you know, this partnership between Arsenal and Dashen ticks all of these boxes very well. It will also bring Dashen closer to consumers, and closer to beer drinkers who love football. So in conclusion, I think I’m correct in saying that this is a perfect partnership in terms of what both brands represent, that is quality and societal marketing. It will benefit both these brands, and it will ultimately benefit football development in Ethiopia. So it is a win, win, win.”
Greg Dorey, British Ambassador to Ethiopia, on his part stated his belief that the partnership between Dashen and Arsenal will help strengthen the ties between Britain and Ethiopia.
“I personally find it really exciting to be here at the launch of an initiative by two great British brands partnering each other in Ethiopia. There are many ways in which Britain and Ethiopia are linked. You are still our biggest development partner in the world, our commercial links are strengthening, we work very closely in regional security issues and global issues like climate change. Diplomacy used to be very much about government to government relations, but now it’s much much broader than that. And sports diplomacy is an important aspect of what we do, and long ago we recognized the huge passion for sport in Ethiopia. Dashen is one of my favorite beer brands in Ethiopia, so I’m very pleased that Arsenal has selected them as a partner.”
Arsenal chief commercial officer Vinai Venkatesham told Arsenal.com that the partnership will help Arsenal get closer to its fans in Ethiopia and will focus on supporting Dashen Brewery’s community based initiatives with coaches from the club taking part in grassroots football development projects in Ethiopia. “Arsenal has a huge fan base across Africa, and our support in Ethiopia stands out as particularly strong. We are delighted to be partnering with Dashen Brewery, together creating the first regional partnership for a Premier League club, in this rapidly growing and developing territory,” Venkatesham said.
The deal makes Arsenal Football Club the first and only Premier League side to secure a regional partnership in Ethiopia.
