Students vote Nestlé’s Milo ‘Student Beverage Brand of the Year’ for the fourth time

Milo wins award on the back of a number of initiatives to help consumers make healthier choices 

Sri Lankan students voted Nestlé’s popular beverage Milo ‘Student Beverage Brand of the Year’ once again. This is the fourth consecutive year Milo has won the award, signifying the unwavering love consumers have for the brand and the strong trust they continue to place in the quality of the product.

Said Norman Kannangara, Nestlé Vice President - Beverages: “Milo has been at the forefront of supporting school sports from grass roots level for over 30 years, encouraging hundreds of thousands of children to be physically active, and supporting many promising student athletes in their careers. We have recently undertaken a number of other initiatives to help children lead a healthier lifestyle; starting with a healthy breakfast campaign and extending to transparent nutrition labelling on pack. We’re extremely pleased and gratified to be voted ‘Student Beverage Brand of the Year’ for the fourth time, in recognition of our high quality product and decades long support in ‘fuelling the winning spirit’ of children across the country.” 

The ‘Student Beverage Brand of the Year’ Award is organised every year by the Commerce Society of D.S. Senanayake College, to give student opinion a voice and appreciate the businesses that have made a positive contribution to the local youth community. Awards are based on the results of a survey conducted with more than 9,000 children in the Western Province, who vote for their preferred brand. Milo has won ‘Student Beverage Brand of the Year’ every year since the awards’ inception.  

Milo is Nestlé’s world leading chocolate malt beverage, fortified with vitamins and minerals. Made from fresh milk collected from thousands of Sri Lankan farmers, Milo encourages the consumption of milk amongst children. It is manufactured at Nestlé’s state-of-the-art factory in Kurunegala, upholding the high quality standards Nestlé is renowned for across the world.

The brand’s latest initiative is its new and revamped packaging for Milo RTD (Ready-to-Drink), which encourages physical activity by portraying six different school sports supported by Milo. The new packaging also comes with enhanced nutritional labelling. Every pack of Milo RTD contains less than two tea spoons of sucrose (added sugar), which accounts for less than 5 per cent of the product. Milo RTD currently contains one of the lowest levels of sucrose in the local milk-based beverage category.

Milo has been committed to developing school sports in the country for more than three decades. It has been a strong partner in the school sports arena, supporting different sports like rugby, swimming, netball, athletics, and hockey. The grand finalé of the schools’ sports calendar is the Sri Lanka Schools Colours Awards, also supported by Milo, which honours the best sports stars in recognition of their performance. Milo’s support of national school sports has helped nurture many promising athletes, many of whom have gone on to represent the country. In fact, current national cricket captain and Milo brand ambassador, Angelo Mathews, was a recipient of the Sri Lanka Schools Colours Awards for two consecutive years. 

Further, Milo has strengthened its core brand promise of wholesome and balanced nutrition with its annual ‘Mom, Me and My Milo’ event, where it donates bicycles to thousands of children and organises a cycle parade to demonstrate that getting active can be fun too. The event also hosts the country’s biggest breakfast gathering for children and their parents, encouraging them to pledge to have a healthy breakfast every day. This is part of Milo’s year-long awareness building campaign on the importance of a healthy breakfast, which it amplifies on print and social media.