Giovanna Gregori is the new Director of External Relations for illycaffè

With significant experience in the luxury goods and retail sectors, she will take charge of corporate and consumer communications in Italy and worldwide

Trieste, 26 March 2015 – As of 2 March 2015, Giovanna Gregori is the new Director of External Relations for illycaffè.

Working directly alongside Andrea Illy, managing the image and reputation of the brand, Giovanna Gregori will be responsible for coordinating the External Relations department and defining the corporate communications and illy brand strategies in all the countries in which the company operates.
In this role, she will be responsible for managing the company’s public relations and coordinating all corporate communications, consumer PR & events projects, both nationally and internationally.
She will therefore be in charge of promoting illy’s many initiatives in the world of art, culture and in the field of sustainability - starting with EXPO Milano 2015, of which illy is the Official Coffee Partner and curator of the Coffee Cluster. During the forthcoming Universal Exposition, which will host the biggest celebration in the history of coffee, illy will tell the world about the past, present and future of the famous beverage through a busy schedule of exhibitions, events and conferences, both within the exhibition site and in selected key locations related to the Italian tradition of coffee and culture.

Andrea Illy, Chairman and CEO of illycaffè, commented: “We welcome Giovanna Gregori to our team with great enthusiasm: her in-depth understanding of the international dynamics of communications will be crucial in taking dialogue with all our key audiences to the next level. Especially in a such a decisive year as this, with EXPO2015, a unique opportunity to capitalise on our brand equity and make illy synonymous with high-quality Italian coffee, on a global scale.

Giovanna Gregori has considerable international experience in important major companies in the luxury goods and retail sectors, where she has held management positions in external relations. In particular, before coming to illycaffè, she was Director of Communications and B2B for the McArthurGlen Group. Particularly relevant is her previous experience in Louis Vuitton Italia (LMVH Group), where she held the role of Corporate Project Manager, and in Salvatore Ferragamo Italia as Director of International Public Relations, Press and Events.
Giovanna also spent nine years in Los Angeles as a member of the board for the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, a non-profit organisation for which she was in charge of communications and events related to Timeless Audrey, an exhibition created to raise funds for UNICEF’s educational initiative ‘All Children in School’, which toured Europe, Asia and North America.
She also worked as Director of Italian Public Relations, Press and Events for L’Oreal Paris & Laboratoires Garnier and for Prestige et Collections, Parfums et Beaute’, the luxury division of the L’Oreal Group.
48 years old, with two children, she has a degree in Literature and Philosophy from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, with a specialisation in Social Communication.


illycaffè, with headquarters in Trieste, produces and markets a unique blend of espresso coffee and is the leading brand in the high-end segment of the coffee market. illycaffè is the official partner of Expo 2015 and it takes charge of the content project and management, the exhibitions and the events associated to coffee, in the Coffee Cluster common area. More than 6 million cups of illy espresso coffee are enjoyed every day. Sold in more than 140 countries around the world, illy is available in more than 100,000 of the world’s best restaurants and cafés. espressamente illy, the Italian-style coffee franchising chain, is present with 230 outlets in more than 30 countries to date. To grow and spread the culture of coffee, the company has established Coffee University, a center of excellence that offers full training in all aspects of coffee theory and practice to growers, baristas and coffee lovers. Globally, the company employs around 1,050 people and, in 2013, recorded consolidated sales of € 373.9 million. illycaffé buys green coffee directly from growers of the best Arabica through partnerships based on sustainable development. Working with the best growers in the world – in Brazil, Central America, India, Africa and China – the Trieste-based company develops long-term relationships that transfer know-how and technology to growers while paying above the market rate for their production.


For more information:
illycaffè Press Office
Connexia – iCorporate
ufficiostampailly@icorporate.it

Greta Bonsignore
+ 39 02 4678759
+ 39 348 3113185
Greta.bonsignore@icorporate.it