The opinion

by Andrea Illy

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When it comes to the business world, I am absolutely convinced that the kind of creativity that leads to real innovation can only develop “in house” – in other words the place where all the input from day-to-day relations with clients and products is received and digested. To paraphrase the Chinese saying ”Listen and forget, see and remember, do and know”, I think that only the deep understanding which comes from daily practice can trigger that inventive spark. Whether we are talking about radical innovation – where the innovator is an “inventor” who thinks up brand-new product and process technologies, or incremental innovation – where the innovator uses his ingenuity to apply other people’s product or process technologies to a certain sector for the first time – to my mind, delegating the creative aspect to an
outsider would be unthinkable. It is highly unlikely that anyone would innovate on a “contract” basis.

In support of my belief, this is exactly what happens in our company. illycaffè is based on three things: quality, distant markets and the technology to serve the first two. The constant drive towards improvement and our strong inclination towards research and science mean that we have invented no fewer than three of the eight radical inventions that have marked the coffee industry over the past century: the modern version of the espresso, pressurised packs, and the first industrially-produced coffee pods. All “home made”. These have been accompanied (again in-house) by important process innovations, in particular the electronic sorting of defective coffee beans, and also new developments as regards the value chain. Here I am referring to our way of procuring raw materials. Our supply chain integrated upstream means that we are now the only coffee roaster who buys 100% of its green coffee directly from the growers themselves. In this way we can provide the growers with the know-how they need to achieve high quality, which means we can pay them higher-than-market prices, in consideration of the excellent work they do. Even when it comes to communications, our best-known campaigns are a direct result of the creativity of people who work for us. In particular, I am referring to the designer espresso cups in the illy art collection, or the more recent Galleria illy project, presented in New York and Milan.

The culture of “doing things in-house” keeps the business going. Knowing how to express its skills in its own industry allows a company to base its corporate strategy on knowledge. Sharing knowledge encourages the creation of virtuous networks of partners, which nowadays is essential to speed up growth. People working within a company who have this approach find themselves in a stimulating environment with a multi-faceted culture and a business mentality which reaches all levels. An environment that creates trends and also sets them, instead of merely following other people’s ideas.



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Images

  • Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna

  • Stefano Bonsi

    The declaration of emotional independence of a brave Pinocchio who has decided to make himself a heart with a touch of creativity.

  • Marina Girardi

    Progress flies! But where does its strength come from? My grandmother says that strength comes from the earth if treated with respect and knowledge handed down through generations.

  • Marina Girardi

    Progress flies! But where does its strength come from? My grandmother says that strength comes from the earth if treated with respect and knowledge handed down through generations.

  • Camilla Andreani

    The picture pokes fun at the advertisements that proclaim “hand made according to tradition” for industrially-produced foodstuffs which are the result of a clinical production process.

  • Jacopo Ferretti

    A good dish depends on the choice of the right ingredients.

  • Cristina Portolano

    Handing down the tradition of DIY... doing things that need doing inside and outside the home… handing it down to children... to make sure it is not lost because it’s useful and necessary!

  • Elisabetta Gironi

    The subject is two brothers who live in their own home, a place of creativity and relaxation. The theme is obvious from the subject and the actual collage, which takes time and manual ability.

  • Liliana Salone

    ITEM no. MZ308 - Two boxes, one containing small fragments of stone, and the other, tools. They are joined by the map of a timeless city and three small cogs. Remains, traces left by man bearing witness to his passage. Indelible signs.

  • Nicolò Vasini

    “Home made” is something that involves use of your hands, without interference, but in close contact with the material. Your hands have to get dirty!

  • Marco Temperilli

  • Sarah Khamisi

    This illustration represents a home made product, a clock made from things in my room. To design the product I used dice, a vinyl disc and a measuring tape. Elements which are simple but complete, a combination between real and unreal space.

  • Simone Cortesi

    Nothing can represent the concept of “home made” as well as a human being. Humans are born, grow up, and make things. And biscuits are a real delight.

  • Andrea Cagnini

    The illustration comes from the association of the generic concept “home made” to the label “made in Italy” which is now almost impossible to find and only occasionally adorns a product. Pizza is an ironic interpretation of the clichéd Italian label that restricts “Italianness” to material values.

  • Senera Muratori

    The tree is a symbol of Nature that creates things with its own strength, its hands, those of the human being.

  • Senera Muratori

    The tree is a symbol of Nature that creates things with its own strength, its hands, those of the human being.

  • Senera Muratori

    ... WIND ENERGY... “HOME MADE”... Energy and its source seen from a rather ironic point of view, a home made version with ice-cream spoons and a little person busy constructing a wind farm. A way to say that it only takes a little to do a lot.

  • Senera Muratori

    SKY PAINTING. “Home made” also in the sense of vision. You can lose sight of small things. Every so often, it would be a good idea to try to redesign them with new eyes.

  • Senera Muratori

    HOUSE OF ROLLING PINS. A kind of reinvention of the home, recycled with unusual objects like rolling pins, but deep down the concept is functional.

  • Laura Malinverni

    I SHOULD HAVE LEARNED TO COOK. A horrifying idea when it comes to the breathless search for speed. A potential tragi-comic result of this market that forces us to accept goals that don’t belong to us and lets them proliferate.

  • Federica Castini

    “HOME MADE” SUN. The photo is intended to show how man has gained the ability to imitate Nature, and imitate her “powers” in order to adapt them for domestic use.

  • Cristina Portolano

    A family sipping a drink made at home… The choice of subject has a specific meaning, traditions that have now been lost. The photograph comes from an optical illusion and only if we distance our minds from it we can understand its importance.

  • Valentina Spina

    An obvious allusion to an “instruction manual”, but the invitation to follow the directions reveals a lack of understanding: room for creativity.

  • Andrea Ferlauto

  • "Where I am, makes me what I am"

    Anonymous at Galleria illy London

  • “The time is always right to do the right thing”

    Martin Luther King

  • "Liberty is about our rights to question everything".

    Ai Wei Wei

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