Lavazza Extends Partnership with Toronto Film Festival to 2028: Experience Marketing in Coffee is Growing

Lavazza has extended its partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to 2028. The Italian coffee group has been the Official Coffee Partner of the festival since 2023, and with the new agreement, it will also take on the role of Gala Presenting Partner starting from the 2026 event.

During the festival, which will take place from September 10-20, 2026, Lavazza will operate a branded coffee bar on the TIFF red carpet for the first time. Additionally, pop-up areas will be set up in high foot traffic locations such as the Toronto Metro Convention Centre, David Pecaut Square, and Union Station.

What makes this agreement noteworthy from a coffee industry perspective is not just the sponsorship of a major cultural event. The brand is transforming the sponsorship space into physical touchpoints where the product is actually prepared and consumed.

Sponsorship is Shifting from Visibility to Product Experience

In traditional event sponsorships, having the brand logo appear on stage, tickets, or communication materials is often one of the primary goals.

However, with consumable products like coffee, the brand can do much more.

The coffee bar at the festival not only showcases the Lavazza name to visitors; the barista preparing the product creates direct consumption opportunities through the service style and cup experience.

Therefore, event sponsorship for coffee brands can also become a channel where sampling, horeca service, and brand experience converge.

Lavazza's approach in sports sponsorships is similar. According to the company's official statement, tennis partnerships that began with Wimbledon in 2011 have expanded over time to include organizations such as Roland-Garros, US Open, Shanghai Masters, Madrid, and Rome. Lavazza reports that over 15 million coffees have been served to more than 25 million spectators throughout its 15 years of tennis collaborations.

While these figures are company statements, they indicate that sponsorship is evaluated not only through media visibility but also through actual service volume.

Why is TIFF Important for North America Strategy?

According to World Coffee Portal, Lavazza increased its revenue by 16% to reach 3.9 billion euros in 2025. The group aims to raise its annual revenue to 5 billion euros in the coming years, with approximately 20% of that coming from North America.

Therefore, evaluating the Toronto partnership solely from a cultural and artistic communication perspective would be incomplete.

The premium coffee competition is intense in markets like Canada and the US. In an environment where global chains, local roasters, and capsule/home consumption brands compete for the same consumer, Lavazza's association of its Italian coffee identity with cultural, sports, and lifestyle events is part of its brand positioning.

The Toronto Film Festival also provides a suitable environment for this strategy. The festival is not just about film screenings; it brings together media, industry professionals, international visitors, and city residents at the same time.

This allows a coffee brand to reach a broader urban consumer touchpoint beyond a single event space.

The Selection of Pop-up Locations is Not Coincidental

Lavazza's choice of locations such as the Toronto Metro Convention Centre, David Pecaut Square, and Union Station for the 2026 TIFF program is also significant from an operational perspective.

These locations have the potential to reach different user profiles.

Festival professionals and guests can encounter the brand at event centers, while daily city traffic can meet the brand, especially at locations like Union Station.

Thus, the sponsorship is not limited to a narrow audience with access to the red carpet.

For coffee brands, this structure shows that "in-event" and "event-surrounding" services should be considered together. Product experience can provide high prestige if established only in VIP areas; urban pop-up locations can scale up the reach.

Event Coffee Requires Operations

Serving coffee at a large festival is not just about setting up an espresso machine.

Capacity planning during peak hours, equipment redundancy, milk and alternative milk stock, water quality, electrical infrastructure, waste management, and employee shifts must be planned together.

Even a few minutes of delay in service can create a long queue. Therefore, the engineering of festival operations is different from that of a café service.

On the barista side, a balance between product quality and speed is also necessary. Considering that the consumer experiences their first impression of the brand in a crowded event space, a poorly prepared or long-waited drink can work against the sponsorship investment.

Thus, event sponsorship is not a project that the marketing department can manage alone; operations, supply, technical service, and human resources must work together.

Culture and Art Are Not New Areas for Lavazza

Lavazza's brand partnerships are not solely based on sports.

The company was among the official partners of the event when it introduced its 2026 calendar at Art Basel Miami Beach. It also has relationships with art institutions such as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

This picture shows that the company is trying to position coffee not just as a daily consumption product but as part of fashion, art, sports, and cultural experiences.

However, the financial return of this strategy cannot be directly measured from publicly available data. There is no independent performance data disclosed specifically for TIFF regarding post-sponsorship brand awareness, new customer acquisition, or increased coffee sales.

Therefore, there is currently no data to definitively conclude that the agreement will "increase sales."

What is the Takeaway for Coffee Brands?

Budgets of globally operating companies like Lavazza cannot be compared to those of independent coffee businesses. Nevertheless, the fundamental logic of the model can be applied on a smaller scale.

For a roaster, a local film festival, design week, gastronomy event, or concert partnership can introduce the product to new customer groups.

The critical point here is not the visibility of the logo but the actual experience of the product.

A well-designed small espresso bar, barista workshop, or event-specific menu can generate higher engagement than passive sponsorship.

Stafflink's Perspective

The Lavazza-TIFF agreement demonstrates why sponsorships in the coffee industry are becoming increasingly experience-focused.

In our view, the true value of event partnerships for coffee brands should be measured not by the size of the logo but by how many consumers have experienced a quality and memorable product experience.

The second aspect of this approach is operations. Being present at a prestigious festival provides visibility to the brand; however, if high-volume service is poorly managed, that visibility can turn into a risk.

Therefore, Lavazza's model, which extends from the red carpet to urban pop-up locations, should be read not just as sponsorship but as a brand investment designed in conjunction with marketing and horeca operations.