illycaffè and the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority sign a collaboration agreement to strengthen the Ethiopian coffee value chain
August 28 - 2023
Coffee Geography Magazine
illycaffè, the first Italian coffee company to obtain the B-Corp certification and the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, a government institution to support, guide, protect and enhance the development of the coffee, tea and spice industry, have signed an agreement that aims to increase coffee quality from the plant to the cup, through training activities that will mainly be held in the Coffee Training Center in Addis Ababa, the first training center of its kind on the entire African continent created in partnership between the Italian Agency for the Development of Cooperation (AICS), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), illycaffè, the Ernesto Illy Foundation and the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
The Coffee Training Center aims to meet international quality coffee export standards and promote the training of competent operators who create value in this sector for the country. illycaffè will offer specialized courses to professionals in the supply chain, ranging from regenerative agriculture to coffee roasting, from sensory analysis to the preparation of coffee in the cup, with the aim of improving the production and trade of this important resource for Ethiopia. Growers, exporters, bar managers and baristas will be able to train in the classrooms of the structure or in the field, based on the type of activity proposed.
Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè
“Ethiopian coffee is considered to be the best Arabica coffee in the world. Our challenge is to enhance the offer and services of the supply chain, contributing to local economic development - explains Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè - Through the public-private partnership with the Ethiopian Coffee Tea Authority, we want to create synergies to increase quality and therefore the sustainability of coffee communities. We will act on training that will allow small producers to increase their coffee production capacity and therefore their earnings and exporters and baristas to work with an even higher quality product".
Dr. Adugna Debela, General Director of Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
“Ethiopia is not only the land of origin for coffee but also the potential for new flavors is limitless. This unique flavor and very high-quality nature of our coffee is widely known around the globe. So, the commitment and collaboration we made with illycaffè will strengthen our stand in the international market" commented Adugna Debela, General Director of Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
Illy was founded by Hungarian Francesco Illy (Illy Ferenc in Hungarian), born in Temesvár in the Austria-Hungary Empire. Illy later moved to Trieste during World War I as an officer in the army. After the war, he remained in Trieste, which had recently come under Italian rule, and in 1933 set up a cocoa and coffee business, eventually concentrating on coffee. Focusing his interest on espresso, in 1935, Illy invented the first automatic coffee machine which substituted pressurized water for steam, marketed as the illetta, the predecessor of contemporary espresso machines.
Illy developed a packaging system to preserve coffee, where coffee-filled cans are pressurized with nitrogen, to prevent oxidation. Illy coffee was soon marketed outside the Trieste area and was eventually marketed throughout Italy.
After World War II, control of the company passed to Ernesto Illy (1925–2008), the son of the founder, who started a research laboratory that would ultimately develop numerous inventions and patents. As a scientist and researcher, Ernesto Illy established cooperative agreements with universities and research centers and promoted coffee globally.