In the name of sustainable quality
illycaffè & Sustainability: Elevating Quality, Creating Value
Illycaffè’s mission – to offer the best-quality coffee possible – is steeped in one fundamental principle: that the entire production chain must create value for everyone involved, every step along the way. Technology, the culture of coffee, and respect for man and the environment are all key players in this journey from plantation to cup.
This same principle guides illycaffè’s long-held commitment to sustainability – a commitment encompassing distinct economic, social and environmental initiatives, each measurable and long-held. These efforts are designed to benefit every illycaffè stakeholder: the millions of consumers, customers, suppliers, communities and other individuals and entities with whom our company has a relationship, and the very ecosystems that nurture our coffee, from seed to bean.
To obtain the best coffee nature can provide, illycaffè seeks out the best Arabica beans in coffee-growing countries and establishes direct, personal, long-lasting relationships with growers.
Our team of agronomists spends more than 300 training days each year with them, transferring over 75 years of knowledge and showing hands-on how the world’s best coffee is grown, now and long-term. We then invest our growers in our own success by guaranteeing a profit, directly buying from them at prices often 30 percent higher than market prices, and rewarding exceptional quality with a system of cash awards geared to improve not just farmers’ own fortunes, but entire communities’ standard of living.
Even while improving their technical knowledge and bean quality, illycaffè doesn’t require growers enter into exclusive supplier contracts, giving them freedom to sell their highest-quality production to any buyer willing to meet its price.
This culture of sustainable excellence has led to other ambitious, education-centric projects like the Università del Caffè (UDC). With facilities in Sao Paolo, Bangalore and Bogotà, the UDC provides in-depth, expert training to coffee growers, right where it matters most: close to home.
Finally, illycaffè strives to safeguard the environment at every stage of production, starting at coffee plantations spanning Africa, Central America, Brazil and India, where land is respected and treated with exceptional care, to our global production facility in Trieste, Italy. Perhaps foremost, illycaffè is the industry pioneer in developing and promoting low-impact growing techniques that respect the environment and ensure food safety, in part by minimizing use of synthetic products.
Environmental milestones are many. Illycaffè’s ultra-low-smoke roasting facility, opened in 2003, emits no more than 1/20th of the legal smoke limit. A long-practiced, integrated agricultural approach minimizes water consumption. And now iconic, illy-logoed tin-plated, recyclable steel can has become the symbol for the ambitious “Recycle for London” initiative.
Illycaffè’s long-time commitment to reducing its environmental impact has been cited extensively by leading global authorities, including the European Union’s widely respected EMAS environmental quality certification body.
