TASTE OF THE NFL: A CULINARY AND GRIDIRON EXTRAVAGANZA TO HELP GENYOUTH TACKLE STUDENT HUNGER

Super Bowl LVIII Weekend's Largest Philanthropic Culinary Event, Presented by Frito-Lay, Quaker, and the PepsiCo Foundation, Unveils Star-Studded Lineup of Chefs, NFL Players, and Culinary Experiences

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Get ready for an unparalleled culinary, sports, entertainment and philanthropic experience as Taste of the NFL, presented by Frito-Lay, Quaker, and the PepsiCo Foundation, takes center stage during Super Bowl LVIII Weekend. Scheduled for February 10, 2024, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. PST at the Keep Memory Alive event center in Las Vegas, the Super Bowl's largest purpose-driven culinary event will deliver an extraordinary blend of cuisine and culture, with net proceeds benefiting GENYOUth's commitment to tackle youth hunger and food insecurity.

Taste of the NFL will feature some of the nation's hottest culinary talent and an all-star lineup of NFL Legends and players. World class chefs Andrew Zimmern, Carla Hall, Tim Love, Lasheeda Perry, and Mark Bucher will host the event with over 25 nationally renowned and locally loved Las Vegas chefs who are teaming up to tempt guests' taste buds with signature dishes, innovative beverages, and exclusive eat-and-greets. New additions to the culinary roster for 2024 include  Lorena Garcia of Chica, and Mauro Casanto and Joey Faugno of Carlo's Bake Shop, both at The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas; Jennifer Yee of Wynn Las Vegas; Josh Capon of Fontainebleau Las Vegas; Todd English of Todd English Hospitality; Belle English of Williams-Sonoma; Matt Chacho of Wicked Spoon at The COSMOPOLITAN™ of Las Vegas; Lukasz Mackowiak of Morimotos Las Vegas at MGM Grand Las Vegas; Bob Broskey of RPM Italian at Caesars Palace; James Trees of Las Vegas culinary hot spot Esther's Kitchen; and Bryan Forgione of Buddy Valastro's Restaurant Group.

Also cooking up their favorite Game Day recipes will be Chef Steven Dominguez, Quaker's Associate Research Chef and Culinary Lead, and Charlene Gladden, Frito Lay's Senior Research Chef and Culinary Lead; along with local food talents DJ Flores of Milpas, Paula Escudero and Sean Wilson of Smokin' Good Bistro & Deli; Rochelle Hodge of Twice Baked, and Dan Chatman of Family Soul Restaurant from the PepsiCo Foundation's IMPACTO Hispanic Business Accelerator and Black Restaurant Accelerator programs.

These culinary maestros will be joined by over 30 NFL Legends including Will Blackmon, Daryn Colledge, Doug Flutie, Morlon Greenwood, Tony Moll, Shannon Sharpe, Jason Spitz, Stephen Tulloch, and Charles Woodson, among other gridiron greats. A special appearance will also be made by Miss America. And no Las Vegas event is complete without entertainment, which will be provided by the incomparable talents of Cirque du Soleil.

Taste of the NFL will raise vital funds for GENYOUth's commitment to tackling youth hunger and food insecurity. Net proceeds from the event will benefit GENYOUth's Super School Meals initiative by supporting school nutrition programs and delivering critical school meal equipment packages to high-need schools throughout Nevada. In addition, Taste of the NFL proceeds will support school nutrition programs with equipment grants in all NFL Club markets across the nation.

"Giving back to the communities in which we live, work and serve is a critically important part of our mission at PepsiCo. Frito-Lay and Quaker, along with the PepsiCo Foundation, are proud to support GENYOUth's Taste of the NFL and its lead-up Super School Meals initiative that will provide schools with equipment and resources to help tackle food insecurity throughout the United States," said Steven Williams, CEO, PepsiCo Foods North America. "We are dedicated to increasing opportunities to enhance nutrition security in communities across the country."

"One in 8 U.S. children live in food insecurity and 30 million children rely on school meals, which include milk, fruit, vegetables, whole grain and lean protein, for a substantial portion of their daily nutrition. School nutrition programs foster nutrition equity for students," said Ann Marie Krautheim, M.A., R.D., L.D., CEO of GENYOUth. "Through the support of our founding partners America's Dairy Farmers and the NFL, as well as purpose-minded partners who fund Taste of the NFL, Super School Meals, and other GENYOUth programs, we are working to ensure all children are nourished and active to be their best selves. We thank all of our partners for helping us ensure that the only hunger a child experiences is the hunger to learn."

"As a valued, vital and longstanding NFL non-profit partner, we are proud that our Super Bowl partnership with GENYOUth will raise funds to tackle food insecurity and provide school meals to children in communities in Las Vegas and across the nation," said Peter O'Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business, International & League Events. "We also deeply value GENYOUth's continued commitment to improving the health and well-being of America's youth through programs that promote physical activity, including the NFL FLAG-In-Schools program."  

Taste of the NFL attendees will enjoy autograph sessions with NFL greats¹, curated cocktails, live and silent sports memorabilia auctions, a unique lunchbox wall co-presented by American Family Insurance and Frito-Lay® Variety Packs, and special FEED gift bags. Outdoor features include a visit from the Quaker Pregrain Tour, which kicked off in November 2023 with a $250,000 donation to GENYOUth and whose tailgate truck will make a special stop at Taste of the NFL serving up a NFL-inspired recipe.

Taste of the NFL is made possible through the support of the NFL and presenting sponsors Frito-Lay, Quaker, and the PepsiCo Foundation; NFL sponsors Frito-Lay® Variety Packs, Cheetos, Tostitos and Verizon; and GENYOUth End Student Hunger partners including PNC Bank, American Family Insurance, The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas, Hellmann's/Best Foods, Boars Head Brand, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, Las Vegas Raiders, John Anthony Family of Wines, Smoke Wagon Straight Whiskeys, Melissa's Produce, Le Portier Cognac by Shannon Sharpe, Charles Woodson's Intercept Wine and Woodson Whiskey, Don Londrés, FEED, KLAS-TV News 8, Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee.

Tickets to Taste of the NFL are VIP only and can be purchased at www.TasteoftheNLF.com or Ticketmaster.

¹ Additional confirmed appearances to date by NFL Legends and current players include Michael Bankston, Willie Buchanon, Jarrod Bunch, David Caldwell, Darryl Clack, Mark Collins, Chris Calloway, Bryan Chamberlain, Rick Cunningham Chris Draft, Jonathan Grimes, Liffort Hobley, Darnay Holmes, Darvell Huffman, Charlie Joiner, Derek Kennard, Nick Lowery, Mark McMillian, J.C. Pearson, A.Q. Shipley, Mike Sherrard, Clifton Smith, Wesley Walker, Mike Wilson, and Usama Young.

About Super School Meals 

GENYOUth's Super School Meals is a community-based initiative that is equipping schools in high-need Nevada communities with school meal equipment packages to tackle student hunger. With the support of partners including the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee, Dairy Council of Nevada; and purpose-minded corporate sponsors Frito-Lay North America, The Quaker Oats Company, PepsiCo Foundation, and The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation in partnership with Smith's, Super School Meals is providing critical school meal equipment to increase school meal participation among Nevada children.  

Taste of the NFL and GENYOUth  

Founded in 1992 by Wayne Kostroski, Taste of the NFL has for 33 years been raising awareness and generating funds to fight hunger and food insecurity in Super Bowl host cities and the 32 NFL Club markets by teaming up with many of the country's top chefs and NFL's greatest players. 2024 marks the fourth year for GENYOUth as the event's charitable partner. Funds raised for GENYOUth by the 2023 Taste of the NFL in Phoenix helped deliver a collective impact totaling $1.8 million and the delivery of over 100 million school meals to food insecure students across the country.  

"As a long-time advocate for fighting food insecurity and promoting nutrition equity, I am honored to serve as culinary host of Taste of the NFL in support of GENYOUth's mission to help nourish our nation's kids and end student hunger. I invite everyone to attend Taste of the NFL and sample for themselves the delectable dishes our incredible chefs will be cooking up. Get ready for four hours of food, football and fun!" said Andrew Zimmern, Emmy award-winning TV personality, chef, Taste of the NFL culinary host, and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN World Food Program.  

"GENYOUth is an invaluable partner of the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee as we have a shared mission of driving lasting social and economic impact across local communities," said Sam Joffray, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee. "We are proud to see GENYOUth's Super School Meals initiative culminate with the annual Taste of the NFL culinary event – both of which are raising critical funds to end student hunger in Nevada schools." 

PepsiCo Foods North America and the PepsiCo Foundation Tackle Food Insecurity
in Partnership with GENYOUth

PepsiCo Foods North America's and the PepsiCo Foundation's multi-faceted, multi-year support has been critical in helping GENYOUth advance its mission of ensuring all children are well nourished and physically active. Since 2009, PepsiCo Foods North America and the PepsiCo Foundation have provided over $7.5 million to fight child hunger and food insecurity and promote physical activity. This includes a total of over $1.7 million from Frito-Lay, Quaker, the PepsiCo Foundation, and Frito-Lay® Variety Packs and Cheetos® Mac 'N Cheese in 2023 in support of GENYOUth's Taste of the NFL event, Super School Meals initiative, and overall End Student Hunger and physical activity efforts. These funds are positively impacting over 100,000 students and increasing access to over 28 million school meals around the nation and in Super Bowl LVIII's host market of Nevada, as well as keeping 66,000 students engaged in physical activity and play.

In addition, over the past 15 years Frito-Lay, Quaker, and the PepsiCo Foundation have provided critical support for GENYOUth programs designed to advance youth health and wellness. These include a Quaker Oats partnership for breakfast equipment grants to schools; serving as a founding partner of the Spanish-language version of GENYOUth's flagship program, Fuel Up to Play 60 en Español; helping to expand GENYOUth's Grab and Go school breakfast programs by over 10 million school breakfast opportunities through PepsiCo Global Initiative Move for Good – an engagement effort that funded 114 school meal carts which helped deliver more than 17 million meals to more than 63,000 students; partnering with the PepsiCo Foundation's Food for Good Program to advance a more equitable food system to ensure communities have food security and access to nutritious meals; and supporting GENYOUth's Fuel Up to Play 60 summits with Adventure Capital events and providing in-kind product donations and cooking events.

About GENYOUth
GENYOUth is a 501c3 national nonprofit dedicated to helping school children thrive by living a well-nourished and physically active life. A catalyst for youth health and wellness, GENYOUth has supported over 77,000 U.S. schools to equip them with the resources needed to ensure millions of children have equitable access to nutrition and physical activity. Founded by America's dairy farmers and the NFL, GENYOUth convenes a network of private and public partners, including Fortune 100 companies and foundations to ensure all children are nourished and active to be their best selves. With a commitment to end student hunger, GENYOUth provides nutrition grants to increase access to healthy school meals among food insecure students. GENYOUth is the official charitable partner of Taste of the NFL, a purpose-driven Super Bowl culinary experience that raises awareness and generates funds to fight hunger and food insecurity to support the organization's commitment to end student hunger. To learn more and support GENYOUth visit www.GENYOUthnow.org and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About the National Football League
The National Football League is America's most popular sports league, comprised of 32 franchises that compete each year to win the Super Bowl, the world's biggest annual sporting event. Founded in 1920, the NFL developed the model for the successful modern sports league, including national and international distribution, extensive revenue sharing, competitive excellence, and strong franchises across the country.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.  

About Frito-Lay North America
Frito-Lay North America is the $23 billion convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Frito-Lay snacks include Lay's^® and Ruffles^® potato chips, Doritos^® and Tostitos^® tortilla chips and branded dips, Cheetos^® snacks, Stacy's^® pita chips, PopCorners^® popped-corn snack, SunChips^® multigrain snacks and Fritos^® corn chips. The company operates 30+ manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and Canada, more than 200 distribution centers and services 315,000 retail customers per week through its direct-store-delivery model. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, www.fritolay.com, on X (@fritolay), on Instagram (@fritolay) and on Facebook (Frito-Lay).

About the PepsiCo Foundation
The PepsiCo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PepsiCo, invests in the essential elements of a sustainable food system with a mission to support thriving communities. Working with non-profits and experts around the globe, we're focused on helping communities obtain access to food security, safe water and economic opportunity. We strive for tangible impact in the places where we live and work—collaborating with industry peers, local and international organizations, and our employees to affect large-scale change on the issues that matter to us and are of global importance. Learn more at www.pepsicofoundation.com.    

About the Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company, headquartered in Chicago, is a unit of PepsiCo, Inc., one of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies. For more than 140 years, Quaker's brands have served as symbols of quality, great taste and nutrition. Quaker® Oats, Quaker® Rice Cakes and Quaker Chewy® Granola Bars are consumer favorites. For more information, please visit www.QuakerOats.com, www.Facebook.com/Quaker or follow us on X and Instagram @Quaker.

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SOURCE GENYOUth