On Wednesday morning, GEI (Gruppo Esponenti Italiani) held a breakfast panel at the Racquet & Tennis Club in New York. They hosted Andrea Illy, Chairman of Illycaffe S.p.A, as their main speaker. Illycaffe is a family-founded coffee business established in Trieste, Italy in 1933 which today is one of the global leaders in coffee bean purchasing and production, with a heavy emphasis on quality.  

Mr. Illy, through conversations with GEI President Mario Platero, touched on many different aspects of the coffee creation process as well as the supply chain dynamics. He danced between artistry and science, first discussing the immense complication of arriving at the “perfect” coffee and then expanding the scope to discuss the difficulties farmers face at the bottom of the supply line.