Illycaffè S.p.A. (branded and stylised as illy) is an Italian coffee company specializing in espresso, headquartered in Trieste. Illy markets its coffee globally in silver and red pressurized, oxygen-free cans; operates a network of cafes on shopping streets, in museums, and in airports; and, since 2009, has marketed a line of coffee-flavoured energy drinks as illy issimo.
Either as whole beans or ground coffee, Illy offers medium, dark, and decaffeinated roast variations, as well as single-origin arabica variations, as available, each from Brazil, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Tanzania, or India. Seasonally, the company offers Idillyum, a low-caffeine arabica grown in El Salvador. The company packages coffee as whole beans, pre-ground coffee, ESE pods, and iperEspresso capsules.
Illy was founded in 1933 by Francesco Illy, remains family-controlled and employs 1188 employees (2023) worldwide. In 2022, revenues totalled €567.7 million,[1] and in late 2019, Illycaffee sought to expand into the United States market, offering a 20% stake in the company to potential investors.[2]
History
Illy was founded by a Hungarian, Francesco Illy (Illy Ferenc in Hungarian), born in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary (now Timișoara, Romania). During World War I he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army. After the war and the Treaty of Trianon, he remained with his sister in Trieste, which had recently come under Italian rule.[3] In 1933, he set up a cocoa and coffee business, eventually concentrating on coffee.[4] Focusing his interest on espresso, in 1935, Illy invented the first automatic coffee machine which substituted pressurized water for steam, marketed as the illetta, the predecessor of contemporary espresso machines.[5]
Illy developed a packaging system to preserve coffee, where coffee-filled cans are pressurized with nitrogen, to prevent oxidation. Illy coffee was soon marketed outside the Trieste area and was eventually marketed throughout Italy.
After World War II, control of the company passed to Ernesto Illy (1925–2008), the son of the founder, who started a research laboratory that would ultimately develop numerous inventions and patents. As a scientist and researcher, Ernesto Illy established cooperative agreements with universities and research centres and promoted coffee globally.[6]
Ernesto's son Andrea Illy (born 1964) is currently the company chairman, and Andrea's sister Anna Illy (born 1958)[7] and brothers Francesco Illy (born 1952) and Riccardo Illy (born 1955) are on the board of directors.[4] Illy coffee is available globally, with price differences reflecting global tariffs.
In 1999, Illy established the University of Coffee, Unicaffe, in Naples[8] to support education, research and innovation related to coffee.[9] The University was later moved to company offices in Trieste; the Unicaffe network currently has 27 branches worldwide.[10]
Read on at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illy
Company website: https://www.illy.com/en-gb
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.