illycaffè invites coffee lovers to participate in blind tastings of the 9 finalist coffees for the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award 2024

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Oct 30, 2024, 14:13 ET

Consumers in São Paulo, Paris, and Venice can vote for the best coffee from the 2023/2024 harvest

TRIESTE, Italy, Oct. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffè announces the launch of blind tastings to select the winner of the "Coffee Lover's Choice," a special recognition awarded directly by consumers to one of the 9 finalists of the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award.

From October 24 to 26 at the illy store in São Paulo, on October 29 at the Rue Aubert store in Paris, and on October 29 and 30 at the illy store in Venice, consumers can taste the finalist coffees from Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua, and Rwanda. To participate as jurors, consumers will blind taste, free of charge, three of these coffee lots in espresso form and express their preferences.

The Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award, named in memory of illycaffè's visionary leader and the son of the company's founder, honors those who produce the finest coffee beans sustainably from coffee-growing paradises around the world.

Each year, illycaffè's quality laboratory in Trieste selects 9 countries producing the best coffee of the season. From these, the 3 top sustainable lots are chosen for each country. Of the 27 batches, the consumer jury will blind taste the top 9, one from each country, and determine the winner of the 2024 Coffee Lover's Choice Award.

The award will be presented to the winning grower during the ninth edition of the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award, scheduled for November 12 in New York.

illycaffè
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. Every day more than 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. 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 130 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 23 countries around the world. In 2023, the company had a turnover of €595,1 million. The illy single-brand network has 159 points of sale in 30 countries.

SOURCE illycaffè