illycaffè becomes Global Partner of Frieze Art Fair

For the next three years, the company will partner with the three international contemporary art fairs.

Trieste, New York, 4 May 2021 – illycaffè is now the official global coffee partner of Frieze Art Fair, the premier international contemporary art fair that brings together art connoisseurs, artists, and galleries, arriving in New York City at The Shed from 5th to 9th of May and in London this October.
As part of a three-year global partnership with Frieze Art Fair, illy extends its long-standing interest and commitment to promote beauty in all forms, especially through the arts. For over twenty-years the company has sustained art and culture, supporting artists, institutions, and international exhibitions.

After a challenging year for the art community, Frieze New York is a “welcome back” where over 60 of the world’s leading galleries will showcase the creative ideas of major artists and emerging talents. The live, in-person event will take place for the first-time at The Shed, an important cultural institution in the heart of New York City.
Central to this year’s programming will be a tribute honouring the Vision & Justice Project, which is rooted in education and expanding awareness around how visual representation in the arts has both liberated and limited the understanding of citizenship and belonging in the United States.

The Frieze Talks programme will bring together respected figures from the art and literary worlds, who will discuss issues related to the creative sphere. The main programme will also be accessible to the general public online through the Frieze Viewing Room digital platform through May 14, which will host a parallel edition of the fair featuring 160 international galleries.

“For a company like illycaffè, which has always pursued sustainable quality, seeking new and beauty is not some secondary add-on but a key component of our corporate culture - says illycaffè CEO Massimiliano Pogliani – the beauty for which illycaffè strives is associated with the Ancient Greek term kalokagathìa, which fuses kalòs (beautiful) and agathòs (good) to create a new meaning in which the goodness of the aroma and the taste of the illy’s blend is combined with the beauty of the visual and tactile experience of our product. Contemporary art successfully embodies these qualities, and being a partner of Frieze Art Fairs, one of the leading events on the global art scene, is a source of pride for us”.

Beauty and art are the two elements that unite all that is “made in illy,” beginning with the logo designed by artist James Rosenquist and the renowned illy Art Collection coffee cups. Frieze New York will provide a stage to showcase the illy Art Collection, created over the span of 29 years by over 100 international contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, Marina Abramovich, and Pistoletto, among others, many of whom have also been featured at Frieze in the past.  Additionally, visitors and exhibitors will be able to combine beauty and flavour by enjoying an illy coffee in the pop up created special for the occasion.


About illycaffè
illycaffè is an Italian family-owned company, founded in Trieste in 1933. Its mission has always been to offer the best coffee to the world. Illycaffè produces a unique 100% Arabica blend, combining 9 of the best varieties in the world, selected by illycaffè: every day 8 million cups of illy coffee are served in over 140 countries around the globe, in the cafés, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafés and shops, at home. As a result of its innovations, illycaffè contributes to the coffee technology progress at global level. In 1991, the “Premio Ernesto Illy de qualidade sustentavel do cafè para espresso” was launched in Brazil for quality espresso coffee. Illycaffè has contributed to the sharing of the know-how, paying growers a premium price for the best quality selected by illycaffè. Since 2016, with the “Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award”, the company has celebrated coffee growers all over the world that, according to illy, have produced the best sustainable coffee. Since 2013, the company has been in the list of the World Most Ethical Companies. In 2019, it enhanced its commitment to pursue a sustainable business model integrating the interest of people with the environment, adopting the status of Società Benefit (Benefit Company) and adding this commitment into its own bylaws. In 2021, illycaffè was the first Italian company in the coffee sector to obtain the international certification as B Corp as a result of its commitment to comply with the highest standards of social and environmental performance. The company also founded the University of Coffee, which has the objective of sharing culture at all levels, offering a comprehensive and practical training to growers, baristas and coffee lovers. Everything that is “made in illy” is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, up to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 100 international artists. In 2019, the company had 1405 employees and a turnover of € 520,5 million. There are 269 illy single-brand shops in over 40 countries all over the world. In 2021, Rhone Capital became a minority shareholder of illycaffè with the aim of contributing to the company’s international growth plans.

Frieze is the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art for artists, writers, curators, collectors, and the general public alike. Frieze comprises three magazines – frieze, Frieze Masters Magazine and Frieze Week – and four international art fairs – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, Frieze New York and Frieze Los Angeles. In 2016, Frieze entered into a strategic partnership with Endeavor, a global entertainment, sports, and content company.