MANILA -- Usana Health Sciences, Incorporated (Usana) will sign a two-year P44 million sponsorship agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission-Philippine Sports Institute (PSC-PSI) to boost the health of 300 "priority" national athletes.
This was bared to SunStar Davao in an interview with Usana field development officer Lerwin Onanad after he met with PSC chairman William Ramirez and PSI national training director Marc Edward Velasco at the PhilSports Complex conference room in Pasig City last Thursday for details of the contract that they will soon sign.
Onanad said that Usana has been helping some 3,000 elite athletes from 20 countries and intends to also help Filipino athletes as part of the company's advocacy.
"As I told chairman Ramirez, we want to really help the athletes who can best justify the goodness and best benefits of our products considering that they will never gamble their career with supplements they take," he said, adding that Usana doesn't have TV, radio or newspaper advertisements but its products are being marketed through word of mouth.
Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, Star Hotshots player Peter June Simon, Ginebra San Miguel Beer's LA Tenorio and former world pool champion Rubilen Amit are among the Team Usana athletes.
Onanad cited that athletes will only take supplements that are safe and Usana products are natural, NSF-certified and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada)-approved.
"There is a big need to support Filipino athletes as the government can only do so much. We want to invest in their health. All they need to do is take the Usana supplements and enjoy the benefits," Onanad added.
He also said that PSC-PSI initially wanted a one-year partnership but Usana is expanding it to two years.
The sponsorship, according to him, costs P22 million worth of Usana products a year. But these will not be given to the PSC or PSI but directly to the 300 selected elite athletes. Onanad said that Velasco wanted to be transparent, thus, PSC-PSI will not be taking the products but will have Usana distribute them instead.
Three Usana products - Cellsentials, CoQuinone 30 Procosa - will be given to the identified beneficiaries. "These are our top three products. When put together becomes a complete product."
The schedule of the signing of partnership agreement will have yet to finalize.