Imagine being so strong that you could lift a young bull up onto your shoulders. Legend has it that Greek athlete Milon of Croton, who won six Olympic events during the 6th century BC, could.
This is the stuff of myth, of course. Aside from obvious animal rights issues, even if you could lift a bull, would you want to? Sounds a bit hairy.
But Milon’s myth captures the spirit of Milo, the brand that delivered on our no bull promise – to help build the energy of kids in Australia suffering from poor diets and malnutrition during The Great Depression.
In 1934 Nestlé Australia food scientist Thomas Mayne developed a powdered chocolate malt drink that people could mix with water or milk, and drink hot or cold. He launched Milo at the Sydney Royal Easter Show that year, and drank a cup every day until he died aged 93.
We started making Milo at a factory in Smithtown, Australia in 1935. Today, Milo’s success is such that it is now the leading cocoa malt beverage across the globe; made in 24 other factories worldwide and sold in more than 40 countries, including Sri Lanka.
‘Fuelling the Winning Spirit’ in Sri Lanka
Did you know Sri Lanka has been home to Milo since 1960? Generations of Sri Lankan kids have grown up with and loved Milo for its unique and delicious chocolate malt taste.
Today the brand is synonymous with Sri Lankan school sports. Milo strives to instill an interest in sports among local youth to promote good health, an active lifestyle, discipline, team spirit and leadership. By helping to identify and nurture young talent for well over 20 years, we have been able to help raise the overall standards of sports at school level and empower the lives of hundreds of thousands of promising athletes with well rounded personalities.
Every year, Milo partners with the local authorities to support different sporting events like swimming, netball, athletics and rugby. The grand finale of these sporting events is the Sri Lanka Schools Colours Awards (popularly known today as the Milo Colours Awards) which recognize talented, young Sri Lankan sportsmen and sportswomen for their outstanding feats in the school sports arena. All these award winners also receive a bonus point towards their university entrance examination. Sounds super impressive right? Well, it doesn’t stop there!
Lately, Milo has been championing the cause of breakfast in Sri Lanka. It kicked off its breakfast campaign by hosting the country’s biggest breakfast gathering ever, where a whopping 6,000 children, along with their parents raised their Milo cups and pledged to have a healthy breakfast every day. The brand continues to create awareness about the importance of breakfast through engaging campaigns and road shows.
From initially nourishing kids in Australia, to inspiring future champions in Sri Lanka today – all this would make even strongman Milon of Croton proud.
Here are quick facts about Milo