Illy’s espresso coffee is “made and imported from Italy” and uses “only the finest 100% Arabica beans.”

Public relations materials for the company cite its commitment to sustainable development and quality: “The better, more appreciated, and desired coffee in the cup is, the greater the resources and the opportunities for development and growth in the countries growing it.”

The company claims to work directly with growers producing green coffee, in countries including Brazil, Ethiopia and Guatemala, guaranteeing a minimum purchase price for coffee that “is calculated on the basis of the country of origin, the type of market, the product quality, the production costs, and on the international stock market (NYC), to which a fair margin is added. This repays the producers for the utmost care they have taken with their crops and guarantees them an income despite market vacillations.”

In BLACK GOLD, Ernesto Illy, the company’s honorary chairman, says: “The quality of a cup of coffee depends from the 50 beans that you need for preparing an espresso. Seven grams of coffee means approximately 50 beans, so they must be all perfect, because if you have a bean that is not perfect, it is like making an omelette of 50 eggs with one rotten you know what will be the result—the rotten will be dominant. The same is true for one defective bean in 50.” But does Illy pay its quality control workers a living wage? No comment on this, but the company does say it does not buy its coffee on the New York commodities market, but instead buys directly from exporters in the countries of origin, including Ethiopia.

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