illycaffè is the official partner of Expo Milan 2015 and it takes charge of the content project and management, the exhibitions and the events associated with coffee in the Coffee Cluster common area.

The World Expo of Milan – “Feeding the planet. Energy for life” – will give special visibility to traditions, creativity, and innovations in the food industry. The company’s proposal fits well into this context: it is a well-constructed program aimed at spreading the culture of coffee and its importance to the global social-economic system. illycaffè has been chosen for its holistic approach to this subject that will enhance the value of the participating guest countries, and make the partnership of different cultures a bit easier, in agreement with the Expo leading values.

The project originated from the synergy of know-how, knowledge and relationships that the company has gained over its eighty-year history. This exceptional heritage has resulted in illy being world-renown as the authority of the real Italian espresso. A deep knowledge of the world of coffee and of the producing countries; the pursuit of excellence; the trend of sustainable development; and the skill in creating cultural and art events are the main pillars of the program scheduled by illycaffè for the Coffee Cluster common area.

illycaffè has also announced an important global tour aimed at celebrating coffee and at spreading the culture of this storied beverage, so familiar but also mysterious in its rich and multi-faceted appeal.

The Tour
Nine cities; three continents; twenty months left before the opening of Expo Milano 2015, that will be focused on the subject of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. Coffee will be one of the main players. illycaffè has been given the mission of managing all cultural contents related to coffee.

Under the aegis of the International Coffee Organization, the tour will bring the expertise and a different perspective of the coffee world to every city:

The journey from bean to cup;
The creativity spawned by/and developed around the coffee cup (art, literature, etc.);
The culture and the traditions of the coffee-growing and coffee-drinking countries;
Coffee and pleasure (sensorial, intellectual, social);
Coffee and sustainability (economic, environmental, social);
Coffee and health (the virtues of a drink that celebrates life).
The tour will begin on September 9th from Belo Horizonte (Brazil), on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the International Coffee Organization, the most important intergovernmental organization of the exporting and importing countries, with an exhibition of photos by Sebastião Salgado for illycaffè over the last ten years documenting the lives of coffee growers.

Sebastião Salgado and the coffee grower Josè Carlos Grossi, will be the Brazilian ambassadors at this event, in an ideal relay race that will finish in Milan, in January 2015. In each of the involved countries, a local testimonial and a representative of the company’s stakeholders will be called to explain and to witness the values that define illy world.

The tour will visit the following cities, offering a different perspective on the coffee world in each of them:

2014

New York (February)
Seul (April)
Shanghai (June)
Bogotà (September)
Dubai (October/November)
2015

Londra (February)
Berlino (March)
Parigi (April)