October 17, 2005 — PowerBar, a division of Nestlé S.A., and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), owners of the Ironman brand, announced an exclusive three-year global sponsorship agreement yesterday from the 2005 Ford Ironman World Championship, the world’s most challenging endurance event. The deal designates PowerBar as the Official Global Energy Bar and Energy Gel Sponsor from 2006 through 2008 for all U.S. and international Ironman qualifying events, the Ironman 70.3 series, and the Ford Ironman World Championship.*

For PowerBar, creator and worldwide leader of the estimated US$1.9 billion international sports nutrition bar category, the partnership with the world’s leading triathlon brand marks the company’s first international sports marketing deal.1 This strategic alignment will further Nestlé’s goal of achieving worldwide leadership in the rapidly growing sport nutrition category. Through the agreement, PowerBar will leverage the international Ironman program as a platform for its sports nutrition education initiatives and will support the sponsorship via advertising, promotions and sports marketing. POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE energy bars and POWERBAR® POWERGEL® energy gels, endorsed as Official Products of Ironman, will be on-course at more than 40 Ironman events in more than 17 countries each year to deliver essential sports nutrition to Ironman competitors.

“I am thrilled that PowerBar is now the official energy bar and gel for Ironman worldwide”, said Lisa Bentley, Canadian Ironman champion. “PowerBar has been my own official energy source for each of my nine Ironman wins. I can truly say that I would not be an Ironman athlete without my PowerBar products. That is why this global partnership between PowerBar and Ironman is so exciting!”

Partners such as Timex, Ford, FosterGrant, Cannondale and Keys Fitness have made Ironman the number-one user-based sports brand in the world. These partnerships continue to help meet the needs of Ironman athletes as well as the active consumer. The nutritional needs of Ironman athletes are vast, with more than 25,000 units of PowerBar product being consumed on Ironman race day alone. Athletes training for Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events will make PowerBar products a key component of their training regimen, as athletes recognize the importance of training and racing with sports nutrition products that deliver consistent results.

“The new global partnership builds on a terrific relationship we’ve enjoyed with Ironman for years. It not only allows PowerBar to expand its range of technical sports nutrition resources into new markets, but also officially provides all Ironman athletes with the same critical PowerBar race-day nutrition tools that they’ve relied on throughout their training”, said Philip Annett, Global Business Head for Performance Nutrition at Nestlé Nutrition. “We look forward to collaborative marketing and education initiatives designed to support the world’s top endurance athletes and to expand the sport of triathlon and both our brands to a wider international athletic community.”

PowerBar’s heritage with the sport of triathlon traces back to the company’s beginning. U.S. triathlete legend Scott Tinley was one of PowerBar’s first athlete product testers and sponsored athletes. Over the past twenty years, thousands of triathletes worldwide have come to rely on PowerBar’s sports nutrition products for training and competition, including 2004 Ironman Triathlon World Champion Normann Stadler and three-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion Peter Reid. PowerBar is the proud sponsor of more than 55 competitors at the October 15th Ford Ironman World Championship event.

“PowerBar Canada is proud to extend its long term association with Ironman Canada via this global announcement”, said Brian Baker, National Sports Business Manager — PowerBar Canada. “We are looking forward to continuing to build on the nine-year relationship with the Ironman Canada event and the athletes that compete each year.”