Kenco, the UK’s second biggest and fastest growing brand in Instant coffee[1], has announced a new partnership with parkrun – joining forces to make a positive impact in communities across the UK & Ireland.
parkrun, a registered charity dedicated to making people happier and healthier, organise over 950 weekly 5K events across the UK and Ireland every Saturday morning. These events offer opportunities for communities to walk, jog, run, volunteer, or simply spectate, and they’ve been hugely successful in bringing people together, with an average of 225,000 participants each week.
Kenco will support parkrun with funding to help keep the weekly 5K events free for all to take part, as well as investing heavily in media and brand activations to introduce parkrun to new audiences in and outside of store.
The partnership kicks off in spring and will be supported by a £5M 360 media campaign as well as high impact in-store activations. To further amplify the partnership, Kenco will include on-pack promotions across a number of Kenco favourites including the Kenco Millicano range.
Clare Andrew, head of UK marketing, instant coffee brands at JDE Peet’s UK, said: “Kenco champions the uplifting potential of coffee for all, helping you to feel at your best. Our shared values with parkrun around making a positive difference in local communities make this the perfect partnership. Together we celebrate the intrinsic link to the morning coffee occasion, both pre-run to motivate you to the start line & post-run to celebrate your achievement, whilst inspiring others along the way. So, grab a Kenco, and come and join us at parkrun!”
Kenneth Foreman, head of commercial & fundraising at parkrun, added: “When our founder, Paul Sinton-Hewitt first started parkrun over 20 years ago, his main goal was to spend time with friends and go for a coffee together after – so we’re absolutely delighted to welcome Kenco as our new partner. This partnership will enable us to expand our reach and impact, while also providing valuable opportunities for retailers to connect with our passionate and loyal parkrun community.”
The partnership kicks off in April 2025 with activations happening regularly throughout the year as Kenco and parkrun work together to inspire shoppers, drive footfall and take parkrun to new audiences.
More information on the partnership can be found here: www.kenco.co.uk/parkrun
