illycaffè invites all coffee lovers to take part in the blind tastings of the 9 coffees that qualified as finalists for the 2023 Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award

TRIESTE, Italy, Oct. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffè announces the launch of the blind tasting events that will nominate the winner of the "Coffee Lover's Choice", the special award assigned directly by consumers to one of the 9 finalists for the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award.

The Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award is an annual international award now in its 8th year. Named after illycaffè's visionary leader, the son of the company's founder and a pioneer in virtuous collaboration with coffee farmers, the award celebrates the best coffee batches in the world in terms of sustainable quality and highlights over three decades of virtuous collaboration with coffee farmers in order to fulfil the dream of offering the world's best coffee.

It is now time for consumers to taste the 9 coffees that qualified as finalists and express their preferences in order to decree the winner of the "Coffee Lover's Choice" award. On October 24^th and 25^th, the illy cafés in Milan Monte Napoleone, London Kensington, Paris Auber, Williamsburg, Virginia and Sao Paolo will host the first blind tastings of these nine coffees: consumers will be able to taste three shots of them free of charge and express their preference.

The award will be bestowed during the 8th Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards, to be held on November 16 in New York City, and pays tribute to the sustainable quality pursued by coffee farmers in the nine countries that best represent this year's crop. 

Here are the dates for all the blind tasting events:

• 25^th October illy Monte Napoleone Milan
• 25^th October illy Paris Auber
• 25^th October illy London South Kensington
• 24^th and 25^th October illy Sao Paolo
• 25^th October illy Williamsburg, Virginia

illycaffè is an Italian family-owned company, founded in Trieste in 1933 which has always set itself the mission of offering the best coffee to the world. It produces a unique 100% Arabica blend composed of 9 different ingredients. The company selects only 1% of the best Arabica beans in the world. Every day 8 million cups of illy coffee are served in over 140 countries around the globe, in the cafés, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafés and shops, at home and in the office, in which the company is present through subsidiaries and distributors. Since its foundation, illycaffè has oriented its strategies towards a sustainable business model, commitment that it strengthened in 2019 by adopting the status of Benefit Company and in 2021 becoming the first Italian coffee company to obtain the international B Corp certification. Since 2013 the company is also one of the World Most Ethical Companies. Everything that is "made in illy" is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, up to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 125 international artists, or coffee machines designed by internationally renowned designers. With the aim of spreading the culture of quality to growers, baristas and coffee lovers, the company has developed its Università del Caffè which today holds courses in 25 countries around the world. In 2021, Rhône Capital became a minority shareholder of illycaffè with the aim of contributing to the company's international growth plans. In 2022, the company had 1230 employees and a turnover of €567,7 million. The illy single-brand network has 190 points of sale in 34 countries.

SOURCE illycaffè