Illy

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.

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.

Since the end of the 1980s, illy has purchased its green (raw) coffee beans directly from source countries, rather than the international commodities markets.

The company 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.

[11] Illy was the world's first company to receive the Responsible Supply Chain Process (RSCP) certification of sustainability awarded by Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in June 2021, chairman Andrea Illy expressed interest in expanding the company's presence in the United States, the largest coffee market in the world.

He noted branding as one of the main focuses in breaking into the market, as well as strengthening the company's distribution network both online and in larger retailers such as hotels, restaurants, and cafes.

Robert Rauschenberg, Francis Ford Coppola, David Byrne, Jeff Koons, Yoko Ono,[19] and James Rosenquist (designer of illy's original logo) as well as architects Matteo Thun and Luca Trazzi[20][18] have contributed coffee cup artwork.

Francesco Illy (Illy Ferenc), the company's founder, in 1930
Metal canisters of illy coffee beans
The term espresso , substituting s for most x letters in Latin -root words, with the term deriving from the past participle of the Italian verb esprimere , itself derived from the Latin exprimere , means 'to express', and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. [ 15 ] [ 16 ]