News  //  Gilroy Garlic Festival

Garlic Festival Alliance With Procter & Gamble Will Impact Bay Area

GILROY, Calif. --- Kurt Svardal, president of the 2011 Gilroy Garlic Festival Association (www.gilroygarlicfestival.com), announced today an alliance with Scope Mouthwash that will eliminate the longtime bane of the internationally acclaimed summertime food and entertainment extravaganza.

Representatives of Scope, a division of the 174-year-old consumer products leader Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG), will distribute free samples of the company’s latest offering at a site adjacent to the Festival’s Cook-Off Theater throughout the three-day Festival, July 29-31. The new product will hit store shelves nationwide in August. Scope will unveil the name of its new breath enhancement on the eve of the Garlic Festival.

The Festival’s Board of Directors approved the agreement on June 22 after conducting and certifying a definitive test that involved the consumption of garlic pizza and garlic fries.

“We’ve entertained nearly 4 million guests in 32 years of service," Svardal said. “Despite our worldwide popularity, we are constantly admonished for returning otherwise happy visitors to society with ‘inappropriate breath.’ Solving this problem has been foremost on our agenda since the Gourmet Alley pyro chefs ignited their first flame in 1979."

Scope’s newest technology convinced P&G that three days, 100,000 hearty appetites and 6,000 pounds of fresh California garlic would provide an effective demonstration.

Partnering with Scope is host of Food Network's "Cooking for Real," Sunny Anderson, who combines her love of classic comfort foods along with unique, bold flavors inspired by her many travels around the world. Together, Scope and Ms. Anderson are introducing a new technology that will allow people to breathe-easy after enjoying their favorite garlic-infused dishes.

"Scope is saving the day this year at the Gilroy Garlic Festival," said Ms. Anderson, host of Food Network's “Cooking for Real." "With Scope's newest technology, you can love all your favorite, flavorful foods – including the best the Festival has to offer– and leave the worry of bad breath behind."

As leader of 4,000 volunteers, Svardal beamed with pride in assessing the Bay Area-wide significance of his community’s partnership with Scope.

"This is not just for three days in late July," the 10-year Festival volunteer said. "The social ramifications of this breakthrough are enormous. A couple can celebrate their anniversary by sharing the Forty Clove Garlic Chicken at The Stinking Rose in San Francisco, and fans at a Giants game at AT&T Park won’t have to wait until the ninth inning before sharing their garlic fries with the guy in the next seat."

The 2011 Gilroy Garlic Festival will run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 29-31 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy.