Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Papua New Guinea (CCEP PNG) renewed its Grand Champion sponsorship of the Morobe Show on 7 October 2026, extending a run the company says has lasted 33 years. The 63rd show opens at the Lae Showgrounds in Morobe Province on 24 October and runs for two days.
CCEP PNG makes and distributes soft drinks including Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite, and serves about 6,400 customers across Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Financial terms were not disclosed for 2026, while the 2024 package was 180,000 kina. The show, run by the Morobe Province Agricultural Society, draws 70,000 to 80,000 visitors a year.
Who can sell drinks
Show rules bar stallholders from selling, displaying or promoting soft drinks, cordials, fruit juices and bottled water on the showground, a trade reserved for Coca-Cola. Milled rice is reserved in the same way for Trukai. For rival drink sellers and local traders, the sponsorship decides who can sell cold drinks to a crowd of tens of thousands over two days.
The company says it will run the Coke Amusement Park, with games and giveaways, and a Coke Information Hub covering careers, drink production and bottle recovery and reuse. It has not published a bottle collection target or a sales forecast for the show, so the return on the spend cannot be checked from outside.
Three decades in Lae
The count has risen by one a year, from 29 shows in 2022 to 31 in 2024, which fits the 33 claimed for 2026. The company says its main operations sit in Lae, so the show is a home-market event, and it has used its stand to talk about hiring and sustainability.
Other PNG sponsorships
Morobe is one of several local events the company backs. It took naming rights to the Goroka Cultural Show this year on a multi-year deal ahead of the 70th show in September, and it was naming rights sponsor of the National Mask and Warwagira Festival in 2024.
The company has also signed a multi-year deal with the PNG Chiefs, a new professional rugby league club due to play from 2028, with Coca-Cola branding on jersey sleeves. Only the 2024 amount has been reported for the Morobe package, so any change in this year’s value cannot be measured.
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