Fact check: Are there any press releases from Sugarwise claiming endorsement by Bill Gates in 2020 or later?

Executive summary — short, direct answer: There is no evidence in the provided material that Sugarwise issued a press release claiming an endorsement by Bill Gates in 2020 or later. The documents supplied either do not mention Sugarwise at all or describe Sugarwise activity (certifications) without any reference to Bill Gates, and one source warns about fake celebrity endorsements in unrelated scams ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}.

1. What the core sources actually claim — the simple record

The material supplied contains three distinct clusters of documents: items about Bill Gates’ public remarks and philanthropy that do not mention Sugarwise; press releases and industry coverage of Sugarwise certification activity for the plant-based milk brand Sproud; and a set of pieces discussing unrelated controversies, studies, and scams that reference celebrity or funder influence but not a Gates endorsement of Sugarwise. The Bill Gates speech and philanthropy critique documents focus on global health, agricultural programs and innovation and contain no reference to any endorsement of Sugarwise ^{[1] [2]}. The Sugarwise-related press coverage documents confirm SUGARWISE certification activity for Sproud in February 2021 but contain no mention of Gates ^{[3] [5] [6]}. A scam-review article flags fake celebrity endorsements as a tactic but does not tie Bill Gates to Sugarwise ^[4].

2. Specific press releases and their contents — what Sugarwise publicly announced

The explicit press-release material in the dataset centers on Sproud’s claim of becoming the first plant-based milk brand to receive SUGARWISE certification and the appointment of a registered nutritionist, dated February 10, 2021. These items discuss product credentials and nutrition advisory appointments, and they repeatedly omit any claim of endorsement by Bill Gates. Multiple outlets carried the same factual statements about certification without adding any Gates connection, which strengthens the record that Sugarwise’s public announcements in that window were limited to certification and partnership messaging rather than high-profile endorsements ^{[3] [5] [6]}.

3. Nearby claims and potential confusion — why people might suspect a Gates tie

Two factors in the supplied corpus could create confusion. First, several items discuss funding, grants, or studies that involved the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or topics Gates publicly comments on, such as agriculture and health; those documents mention Gates as a funder or commentator but never as an endorser of Sugarwise ^{[2] [1]}. Second, fraud and marketing-scam reporting highlights how bad actors use fake celebrity endorsements to simulate authority, which means suspicious claims of Gates’ backing should be treated skeptically and verified against primary press releases rather than assumed true ^[4]. The supplied materials show neither a primary Sugarwise press release nor secondary reporting asserting a genuine Gates endorsement.

4. Contradictory signals and stakeholder agendas — reading motives behind the documents

Some sources critique Gates‑funded initiatives and raise policy or ideological objections to philanthropic influence in agriculture or nutrition; those critiques might motivate readers to link Gates to many “food tech” projects even when no endorsement exists ^[2]. Industry coverage of Sugarwise certification has commercial motives: certification bodies and brands benefit from publicity about credentials, but the provided press releases show marketing aims limited to product claims, not celebrity endorsements ^[3]. The scam-review material has an agenda of consumer protection and sensational examples; it warns readers that endorsements can be fabricated, which is a different motive than authentic brand promotion ^[4].

5. Bottom line and verification steps you can take now

Based solely on the supplied evidence, no press release from Sugarwise in 2020 or later claims endorsement by Bill Gates. The dataset includes relevant Sugarwise press coverage from 2021 and various Gates‑related reports through 2024 and 2025, none linking Gates to Sugarwise endorsement ^{[3] [1] [7] [8]}. To confirm beyond these documents, check primary Sugarwise press-release archives and contemporaneous media coverage dated 2020 onward for any direct quote or statement attributing endorsement to Bill Gates; if a claim appears only on third‑party sites or in social posts, treat it as unverified. The supplied sources collectively point to absence, not presence, of such an endorsement ^{[3] [4]}.