The supermarket group Aldi has decided not to renew its sponsorship with the National Ploughing Association (NPA) marking its departure from the national event after a 13-year run.
The 93rd National Ploughing Championships will take place at Ratheniska, Co. Laois this year.
The event will take place from September 17 to 19 for the third year in a row.
An Aldi spokesperson told Agriland today (Friday, March 15) that the supermarket group had decided “after a highly successful 13-year partnership” not to renew its sponsorship with the NPA.
“Our team, customers, and suppliers are immensely proud to have been an active supporter of this truly unique event which represents so much of what is good about Irish life.
“Now is the right time in our strategic growth journey to pursue new partnership opportunities. We wish the National Ploughing Association continued success and look forward to wearing our infamous blue stetsons as visitors to many more ploughing championships into the future,” the Aldi spokesperson added.
Aldi
A spokesperson for the NPA said today that the organisation was sorry to see “the end of a very successful partnership with Aldi”.
It also acknowledged that 13 years “was a particularly long sponsor partnership especially with a multinational company”.
The spokesperson added: “NPA wish Aldi the very best going forward, we are in negotiations with a number of potential new sponsors for the National Brown Bread Baking Competition and hope to make an announcement on that shortly.
“Applications for exhibition space at this year’s ploughing will be live in the next few days and NPA will be releasing details of a number of new additions to the ploughing across the livestock, sustainability and food sectors. So overall exciting times ahead.”
Ploughing Championships
According to the NPA 200,550 people attended the 2023 National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co. Laois.
The 2023 figure did not manage to beat the record set in 2019, when 297,000 attended.
Last year’s attendance was particularly impacted by the wet conditions on the first two days of the event.
Looking ahead to the 2024 event, NPA managing director Anna May McHugh previously said that the organisation was delighted to be holding the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois again.
“Feedback from landowners, the local community and the wider public has been very positive and all were enthusiastic to see a return to Co. Laois,” she added.