Heinz and Kappa Unite for the Ultimate 'Football Foodie' Kit

With the new 24/25 season football kits and sponsors being revealed at club level all across Italy, Heinz and Kappa have collaborated to tap into the end of season football conversation linking the worlds of food and football with their very own ‘kit’. While it’s an ambition for most brands to become the main sponsor on a top team’s jersey, Heinz is focusing on the most important team of all: the one working outside the stadiums, feeding the legions of fans week in, week out, all over the country.

Following up on the “Stadium heroes” campaign earlier this year that celebrated sandwich makers as real football heroes, “The Heinz Uniform” launches today.

Created by DUDE Milan, the nationwide brand awareness campaign runs across social channels with influencer activity featuring a selection of Italy’s most authentic and well-known influencers in the worlds of food, football and football memorabilia.

The campaign features a specially designed apron inspired by the traditions of both Heinz and Kappa. The apron symbolises the bond between two iconic worlds—food and football—celebrating the paninari (the sandwich makers) who enhance the matchday experience for countless fans. The apron’s pattern mimics the iconic squeezes of Heinz ketchup on thousands of sandwiches at every match. It includes a white collar, reminiscent of football jerseys, and the number 57, a nod to Heinz's heritage. The Kappa bands on the sides recall the design of their most iconic jerseys, and the apron is embroidered with the logo of the ‘Paninari Foodball Club’. It features highly specialised functional design elements - safety lacing, heatproof, stain resistant - similar to the meticulous details considered when creating athletic apparel. 

Kappa is renowned for its influential role in the Italian and international sports landscape, having created iconic jerseys for both national football teams and clubs in the past. Currently, it is the technical sponsor for many national teams, such as the Fédération Tunisienne de Football, European clubs like AS Monaco, and numerous Italian clubs, including ACF Fiorentina, Genoa CFC, and Brescia Calcio.

Fiamma Sinibaldi, marketing manager, Heinz, commented, "After paying tribute to the true heroes of the stadiums, who make every match an unforgettable moment, we decided to create the first official jersey for the Paninari: an iconic uniform with technical features specifically designed to enhance the performance of our heroes. In designing this uniform, we could only choose Kappa as our partner: an iconic brand like Heinz, which over time has created the most memorable kits in football history."

A Kappa spokesperson added, "Kappa is sport, all sports, and what gravitates around them. Football is not just about the players who take to the pitch, but it is also the surrounds that make it the most popular sport in Italy and around the world. This is why Kappa has enthusiastically joined Heinz's ‘proud sponsor of Calcio Mangiato’ campaign, supplying the technical material with which to produce the aprons, thus making them true technical items, with the characteristics of a real football shirt."

Davide Labò, creative director, DUDE, said, "When we started working on the creative platform Proud Sponsor of Calcio Mangiato, we quickly realised how essential the paninaro is to a football fan’s experience. That's why we're so excited and proud that iconic brands like Heinz and Kappa have eagerly joined us in this ambitious and meaningful project."

‘The Heinz Uniform’ builds on the ‘Proud Sponsor of Calcio Mangiato’ (“Calcio Mangiato” is an Italian wordplay literally meaning “Eaten Football”) creative platform launched at the beginning of this year, that aims to establish a long-lasting role for Heinz in the world of Italian football.

Media was by Carat Dentsu.