GREAT PASSIONS HAVE NO BARRIERS BARILLA OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF THE ITALIAN PARALYMPIC TEAM TO FEED THE DREAM OF ITALIAN ATHLETES

The Italian company continues its experience in accompanying Italian sports as the official sponsor of the Italian Paralympic Team at Rio 2016. For the occasion, Barilla has partnered with three great players of the world of Paralympic sport - fencer Bebe Vio, 100 meter sprinter Monica Contrafatto and discus thrower Oney Tapia - in an advertising campaign airing from the beginning of September featuring the shared values of commitment, generosity and courage.

After the positive experience of the Olympics with many medals won by Italian athletes, Barilla continues its sports experience in Brazil. The Parma-based company will be the official sponsor of the Italian Paralympic Team during the Rio 2016 Paralympics from 7 to 18 September. Barilla will also be one of the pasta suppliers of Casa Italia Paralimpica, host of the Italian athletes in Brazil. To establish a strong bond with the country and symbolically break down all barriers, the facilities have been set up within the premises of the parish of Imaculada Conceição, which will become a meeting point for athletes, relatives, Italian supporters and staff. Here everyone will have the chance to enjoy dishes prepared with the symbol of Italian food, pasta, that will feed the dreams of the 101 Paralympic athletes attending Rio 2016. This is not the first time Barilla partners with Paralympic sports. Just think of the 2012 experience with the “Barilla Blue Team” led by Alex Zanardi, who is a member of Barilla’s Diversity & Inclusion Board.

AIRING FROM EARLY SEPTEMBER THE BARILLA CAMPAIGN WITH THREE GREAT ATHLETES Besides being extraordinary sports people, Paralympic athletes are also champions of humanity and courage. This is the reason why Barilla has decided to partner with three of them - fencer Bebe Vio, 100 meter sprinter Monica Contrafatto and discus thrower Oney Tapia - for an advertising campaign airing from the beginning of September involving press, TV and the web. The 3 athletes starring the campaign have very different stories and backgrounds, but they all share an extraordinary vitality, energy, passion and confidence in their possibilities. World and European fencing champion at only 19, Bebe Vio is today a national media celebrity. Determined and ambitious on piste as in life, in 2015 she founded art4sport together with her family and Barilla’s support: a non-profit organisation promoting social integration through sports activities of children who have suffered amputations. In 2012, she saw Martina Caironi win the golden medal at the London , so she decided to start running: today, only 4 years later, Monica Contrafatto is one of the five best 100-meter sprinters in the world. With a very rapid career built with sweat and great sacrifice, she has conquered a fantastic bronze medal at the recent Athletics European Championships in Grosseto, Tuscany. The recent gold medal winner at the European Championships in Grosseto and new Italian record holder, Oney Tapia is the undisputed star of discus throwing, a discipline where we lead with women as well - with Assunta Legnante. At his debut in the circle, he broke the fourteen-year-old Italian record in . In the last two seasons he has improved by 10 meters reaching 40.26 m, a new Italian record and distance that placed him at the top of the world ranking in 2015.

BARILLA’S COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY Equality, inclusion and diversity are an integral part of Barilla's culture, values and code of ethics, as well as a decisive factor for its growth model and way of doing business. Enhancing the value of each person, by respecting physical, cultural and moral integrity is fundamental for Barilla whose final goal is to become a global company, leading on diversity and inclusion. On this issue, Barilla’s challenge is to reach gender equity in leadership positions by 2020: today the presence of women in leadership positions is 35%. Recently, Barilla was nominated the Most Improved Player within the ranking of companies that promote integration and social inclusion of the LGBT community. In 2015, the company contributed to providing aid for millions of people around the world donating almost 2,800 tons of products (equal to 25 million pasta dishes) and continued its commitment to the Italian Civil Protection with the emergency relief pasta truck.

The Barilla Group

Established in Parma in 1877 out of a shop that made bread and pasta, today Barilla is among the top Italian food groups, a world leader in the pasta and pasta sauce businesses in continental Europe, bakery products in and the crispbread business in Scandinavia. The Barilla Group owns 28 production facilities (14 in Italy and 14 abroad) and exports to more than 100 countries. Every year, the Group's plants turn out around 1,700,000 tons of food products that are consumed on tables all over the world under the following brand names: Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Harrys, Pavesi, Wasa, Filiz, Yemina and Vesta, Misko, Voiello, Academia Barilla. The Barilla Group has one way of doing business: “Good for You, Good for the Planet”. “Good for You” means constantly improving our products, motivating people to adopt healthy lifestyles and improving food access and social inclusion. “Good for the Planet” means promoting sustainable supply chains and reducing the amount of CO2 we emit and water we consume during production. For more information, please visit: www.barillagroup.com

Head of Media Relations Luca Di Leo [email protected]

Media relations Grossi Caterina/Griguol Barbara [email protected] [email protected] +39 0521 262217

INC –NATIONAL COMMUNICATION INSTITUTE Matteo de Angelis [email protected]; + 39 06 44160834; +39 3346788708 Simone Ranaldi [email protected]; +39 06 44160883; +39 3355208289