Fuel for the mind

In a somewhat provocative way, one could say that more or less worldwide coffee consumption is not that much different from petrol consumption: it is a widely undifferentiated consumption of a commodity, of fuel for the body.
Also in Italy – a country widely viewed as being one of the highest coffee consumers in the world – people generally tend to submit to bar espressos, resignedly giving in to the barman’s choices; the blend that is used at home is chosen without the purchaser knowing anything about the contents in the package that is being bought; the very low quality level of the black beverage supplied in offices is accepted as inevitable fate.
Wine, unlike coffee, has been able in the past few years to highlight not only the physiological and convivial aspects linked to its consumption, but also its abundant and refined entourage of facts and rituals. Little is known and said about coffee, although its cultural and historical features are in no way inferior to those of wine.
illy is trying to travel along a different road by stimulating among consumers a strong and unique awareness in favour of the black beverage, a necessary corollary to the company’s decision to privilege excellence and quality in its blend, from the selection of the raw material down to the perfectly brewed espresso in your cup. How? By starting precisely from the most noble functions that coffee fulfils: on the one hand being an elixir for the mind, favouring thought and creativity, and on the other a catalyst of encounters and opportunities, ever since the Enlightenment period when it was elected as the official beverage of all intellectuals. Hence the inevitable decision to suggest an illy world that can change coffee from commodity to valued product, rich not only in aromas generating pleasure enticing both the palate and the sense of smell, but rich also in intangible aesthetic and emotional features embracing both intelligence and the spirit. It is a world made up precisely of opportunities, encounters, of “culture of coffee and from coffee” because we firmly believe that coffee is a cultural medium, one that can give imbued and profound pleasure – imbued with stimuli as well as with organoleptic features, profound because it is intimate and mental at the same time.
This is how programs of events, publishing initiatives and especially partnerships with art, its actors and institutions come into being.
It was precisely contemporary art that played a key role in shifting the attention from physiology to intellect. In 1992, ten years ago, the illy collections were created. They are collections of cups “clothed” in very original ways by different artists using their imagination to interpret them. A large group of central characters on the contemporary artistic scene took up the challenge launched by illy: from Sandro Chia to
James Rosenquist, from Nam June Paik to Robert Rauschenberg, from Mimmo Paladino to Jeff Koons, from David Byrne to Jannis Kounellis, from Marina Abramovic to Michelangelo Pistoletto. The challenge was to convey suggestions to whoever drinks an espresso in a bar or at home. Thus, coffee has become in every respect a multi-sensorial opportunity and pleasure for the mind.
In the course of time, the cups decorated by well known artists have created other opportunities: international exhibitions and performances, with illy taking an active part in their creation and planning stages because illy is never a sponsor but always an active partner.
Since the elective affinities between speciality coffee and haute cuisine are very strong, illy generates opportunities also in the catering sector and with great chefs: for this reason it chose to collaborate with important protagonists such as Gambero Rosso in Italy and the James Beard Foundation House in the United States, with whom it annually promotes opportunities for encounters and exchanges.
If proposing a world means, first and foremost, knowing how to select the experiences that are to be proposed, it also means experimenting and running risks to discover new grounds and new opportunities. This is how the many collaboration projects with some of the most interesting international schools of design came into being, such as the Central Saint Martins in London, the Ensci in Paris, the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe, the Politecnico in Milan, etc., enhancing young talented artists and their creativity by introducing them at important events such as the Salone del Mobile in Milan and the Festivaletteratura in Mantova.
Up until now. But, in the name of consistency and rigor, the horizon is bound to broaden and, with it, also the range of opportunities within illy world.