Andrea Illy

Andrea Illy is Chairman of illycaffè S.p.A., a family-owned company founded in Trieste in 1933 with the mission of offering the best coffee in the world, and co-Chair of the Regenerative Society Foundation. From 2013 to 2019, he served as Chairman of the Altagamma Foundation, which represents the most important brands in the Italian cultural and creative industry. During his tenure, the Altagamma Foundation was officially recognized as an ambassador of the Italian lifestyle worldwide. Since 2013, he has been a member of the High Council of the Bank of Italy and, from 2015 to 2021, was part of the Advisory Committee on Internal Audit. Since 2022, he has chaired the Identity and Image Committee. From 2017 to 2020, he was a member of the Advisory Board of Assolombarda, the association of Milan’s industrialists. Since September 2023, he has been a member of The Club of Rome. Since November 2023, he has served on the Executive Board of the Leonardo Committee – Italian Quality Committee. In April 2025, he joined the Board of Directors of FIPE. In July 2022, he was appointed Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Trieste Laboratory on Quantitative Sustainability (LTSQ). As an entrepreneur, Illy is a strong advocate of the stakeholder company model and of corporate responsibility in building a better society. A “humanist chemist,” Illy is also a promoter of culture and art, a field in which illycaffè has always been engaged. Over the years, Andrea Illy has received numerous awards, including Marketing Superstar (Advertising Age, 1996), Entrepreneur of the Year (Ernst & Young, 2004), Capo d’Orlando 2013, and Guido Carli 2014. In 2018, he was appointed Cavaliere del Lavoro by the President of the Italian Republic, and in 2021, he received the Leonardo Prize in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic. Andrea Illy holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Trieste, an Executive Master from SDA Bocconi in Milan, and completed an Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He also studied Total Quality Management in Japan, Innovation at MIT in Boston, Exponential Technologies at Singularity University, and Complexity Science at the University of Oxford. Born in Trieste in 1964, he is married and the father of three daughters. Third Generation of the Illy Family Andrea Illy represents the third generation of the Trieste-based family leading the company founded in 1933 by Francesco Illy. Today he serves as Chairman and, until 2016, for twenty-two years, he was Chief Executive Officer. The Regenerative Society Foundation Andrea Illy is Co-Chair of the Regenerative Society Foundation, created in 2020 by a group of Italian entrepreneurs and international organizations such as UN SDSN, the B Corp system, and the Foundation for Sustainable Development, with the goal of engaging as many companies as possible in the transition toward a new regenerative socio-economic development model. Illy co-chairs the RSF alongside American economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Coffee Expert Among his numerous roles as a leading coffee expert: President of ASIC – the only international association dedicated to coffee science (1999–2014); Board Member and Chairman of the Sustainability Committee of D.E. Master Blender 1753, where he contributed to the spin-out and subsequent sale (2012–2013); Chairman of the Promotion and Market Development Committee of the International Coffee Organization, for which he organized the largest celebration in coffee history during EXPO Milano 2015 (2012–2015). Growth and Recognition of illycaffè Since 1990, illycaffè has recorded double-digit average growth, becoming the most global coffee brand in the world and a recognized leader in quality. The company is renowned for its innovations in Italian espresso technology and has pioneered significant changes in the market, such as direct sourcing from growers, the University of Coffee to spread knowledge, and sustainability certification of the supply chain. illycaffè has been recognized as the most sustainable company in the coffee sector (ICRT, 2014), one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies (Ethisphere, 2013–2022), and won Italy’s Best Performance Award in 2017. Contributions and Publications Andrea Illy regularly publishes and contributes globally as a public speaker in various forums. In 1995, he published Espresso Coffee: The Chemistry of Quality for Academic Press, now in its second edition. He is the author of Il sogno del caffè, published by Codice Edizioni in 2015. In 2018, with Piemme, he published Italia Felix, a conversation with economic journalist Francesco Antonioli. Also in 2018, with Marco Fortis, he co-edited Altagamma: Strategie per l’Italia d’Eccellenza, published by Skira. Since 2019, he has been developing a model of Virtuous Agriculture, beneficial for the environment and health. In 2025, he published La Società Rigenerativa with EGEA, outlining a new model of progress.