Illycaffè is an Italian coffee roasting company that specializes in the
production of espresso. The company was founded by Francesco Illy in 1933 and
was later led and expanded by his son Ernesto Illy. Today, Andrea Illy is the
Chairman and CEO, representing the third generation of family leadership. The
company has more than 800 employees and reached a gross revenue of €361 million
in 2012. Illy produces one blend in three roast variations: normal, dark
roast, and decaffeinated. In addition, illy offers Monoarabica, single-origin
arabica beans from six different countries: Brazil, Guatemala, Ethiopia,
Colombia, Costa Rica, and India. Seasonally, the company offers Idillyum,
a low-caffeine arabica that is grown in the rich, volcanic soils of El Salvador.
Illy coffee is packaged as whole beans, pre-ground coffee, Easy Serving Espresso
pods, and iperEspresso capsules. History
The history of illycaffè is inextricably linked to the lives of the company's
founder, Francesco Illy, and his family. Born in Temesvár in Empire of
Austria-Hungary, Francesco later went to Trieste, Italy, during World War I as an
officer in the army. After the war he remained in the city, which had recently
come under Italian rule, and in 1933 set up a business in the cocoa and coffee
sectors, eventually deciding to concentrate exclusively on coffee. From
the beginning, Francesco was interested in espresso coffee. In 1935, he invented
the first automatic coffee machine which substituted compressed air for steam:
the illetta, the predecessor of today's espresso machines.
Francesco also devised a new packaging system for preserving coffee in which
the cans were filled with inert gases instead of air pressurization. Illy
coffee was soon "exported" outside the immediate Trieste area, and was
eventually sold all over Italy. After the World War II, control of the
company passed to Ernesto Illy, the son of the founder, who started a research
laboratory that soon became the source of numerous new inventions and patents.
It was Ernesto, a scientist and researcher, who established cooperation
agreements with universities and research centres, and who promoted
premium coffee around the globe. Ernesto's son Andrea Illy is currently
the Chairman and CEO of the company, and Andrea's sister Anna Illy and brother
Riccardo Illy are on the board of directors.
The illy brand of coffee is available in many countries, though with significant
price differences depending on import duty rates.
Company Currently, illycaffè S.p.A. is a large
international company, selling its coffee-related products in approximately
131 countries worldwide. The illy group is made up of several companies located
in North America, France, Germany, Spain and Benelux. The group employs
approximately 800 people throughout these six locations.
Since the end of the 1980s, illy has not purchased green coffee from the
international commodity markets, but directly from the source. Illycaffè
exclusively purchases coffee of the arabica species, in particular from
Brazil, the largest producer worldwide, but also from Colombia, India, and
countries in Africa and Central America. Illy's Università del caffè offers free
training for growers. In Brazil, a nine-month program includes 360 hours of
lectures. Illy buys between 10% and 30% of coffee produced by growers trained at
the University of Coffee at a premium price, but does not require that the
growers enter into an exclusive contract with the company.
Illy is the world's first company to receive the Responsible Supply Chain
Process certification of sustainability awarded by the Det Norske Veritas.
From 2004 to 2012, illycaffè funded the Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize to
give recognition to science researchers from the developing world, in
collaboration with The World Academy of Sciences. Illy was featured in the 2006
documentary Black Gold, in reference to its marketing of coffee from Ethiopia.
Coffee Illy coffees are blended from arabica
beans from multiple sources. The grounds are packaged in steel canisters and
pressurized with an inert gas rather than air. For the production of
decaffeinated coffee, the illy method involves the coffee beans being first
steamed for 30 minutes and then repeatedly rinsed with either methylene
chloride or ethyl acetate for about 10 hours. The solvent is then drained away
and the beans steamed for an additional 10 hours to remove any residual solvent.
On 22 May 2009, in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, illy launched a line
of coffee-flavoured energy drinks called illy issimo. On 9 November 2009, AirTran
Airways became the first small regional airline to serve illy issimo to
passengers on board flights. Illy issimo was available in five flavours as of 16
May 2011: caffè, caffè no sugar, cappuccino, latte macchiato, and
mochaccino. References
External links Official website
illy eShop in the USA illy's Università del caffè