Andrea Illy
In June 2005, Andrea Illy, grandson of the founder of illy, took the helm as the third generation of the Illy family to head the company; a company with an uncompromising passion and vision for creating an authentic Italian experience in every cup of coffee served to connoisseurs and coffee lovers worldwide.
Andrea’s role and areas of expertise go well beyond his title as Chairman and CEO. Andrea is a chemist, philanthropist, philosopher, athlete, wine and spirits expert, and impeccable businessman. He has taken his experience as a University of Trieste student who studied the chemical perspective of espresso and as a 1996 Advertising Age-named “Marketing Superstar” to expand and perfect the illy experience in cafes, restaurants, hotel and retail accounts across the world, where 6 million cups of illy coffee are served every day. In 2004, Andrea’s business successes were rewarded with Ernst & Young Italia’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.
In 1990, Andrea started working at illycaffè as a quality control supervisor. Andrea translated his goals for creating an excellent product of superior quality into illy’s F.A.I. Quality program, aimed at increasing customer satisfaction and quality assurance. Thanks to this program, illycaffè is the only global food company to have received the Qualité France, ISO 9001 and 14001certifications.
After serving as director in charge of production and quality control, he was named chief executive of illycaffè in 1994 and in 1997, became chairman of the board of directors. Under Andrea’s leadership, the company has expanded its global penetration from 29 countries to 140 countries and has increased revenues by more than 130 percent.
In 1993, Andrea attended the Master Executive program at the Bocconi University School of Management in Milan, where he has served on the Advisory Board since 1999. Andrea also received his degree in chemistry from the University of Trieste with a thesis on the "Quality of Espresso from a Chemical Perspective." In 1995, Andrea delved deeper into the science of coffee and co-wrote and published “Espresso Coffee: the Chemistry of Quality” with other specialists and experts.
Andrea continually shares his knowledge on coffee chemistry and other scientific and technological aspects of coffee from agronomy to product processing, to roasting and grinding, and to packaging and percolating techniques. He is currently president of the Association Scientifique International du Café in Paris and the International Colloquium on the Science of Coffee in Trieste, Italy.
Today, Andrea continues to grow the illy brand as the world’s finest coffee through unique and uncompromising approaches from bean to cup, with a focus on quality, technology, sustainability, education, culture and art. Andrea is married and has three daughters.