2023-12-12 07:04:19
Autumn in Madrid invites you to relax in places where you can read a book, have a pleasant conversation or, why not, let the time pass by the heat of a good, freshly ground coffee. On this occasion, the interview with Javier Valle, general director of illycaffé in Spain and Portugal, takes place in the cozy space of the March by Fort Coffee Foundation Café, an environment impregnated with the aroma of high-quality coffee roasted in Trieste, city bathed by the Adriatic Sea where illycaffé has its headquarters. This is one of the many stores associated with this Italian company that is revolutionizing the coffee sector and serves more than eight million cups a day in 140 countries around the world.
Espresso in hand talks about how illycaffé has experienced a period of strong development in Spain since its arrival 30 years ago. The future, in Valle’s opinion, is highly promising.
Is Spain a coffee country?
From the point of view of consumption, Spain has traditionally been a place where coffee is drunk as part of social relations, not for taste or the quality of the coffee consumed. In fact, a lot of roasted coffee is consumed, and only 25% of the cups consumed in our market are 100% Arabica. At the hospitality level, we increasingly have more customers who have tried our coffee elsewhere and want to have it in their businesses. These 30 years in Spain we have experienced very great growth, because our clients are our best ambassadors. This happens because we have placed coffee at the center of our consumers’ experience, and thanks to this we have doubled our distribution footprint, growing 23% in 2022 and 26% in 2023. In short, whoever tries Illycaffé repeats and Plus, he wants others to try it. In addition to the hospitality industry, since 2020, coffee consumption at home has increased to reach 61% of the total. The trend is moving from drinking coffee while standing and in company to drinking it alone and on the move, and our challenge is to find the best way to accompany this new trend. On the other hand, the beginning of coffee consumption in Spain is at 16 years old, so we have a lot of life ahead of us to walk alongside our customers.
What makes the illycaffé product so good?
This house is based on three pillars: quality, sustainability and social responsibility. The conjunction of this trinomial is the key to illycaffé’s success. We work for quality from the beginning, selecting only 1% of the best grain from our producers. illycaffé is a blend of nine origins, and from planting we work hand in hand with local producers, helping them with resources and training, in a strong commitment to regenerative agriculture. We not only help the producers, but the entire local community with different services: schools, sanitation, etc., which for us is an extra cost, but we have observed that, thanks to this involvement, the response from our partners is much more favorable. .
The coffee blend is always the same and, depending on the roasting time (between 12 and 14 minutes), we obtain three varieties, each highlighting a value of the coffee: aroma, intensity and acidity.
Roasting is done in a single roastery, in Trieste. This means that all the coffee we serve uses the same recipe, which can vary up to three times a day to guarantee that all the coffee consumed is the same. In line with sustainability and energy efficiency, the energy generated in the roastery serves to efficiently heat and cool the Trieste facilities.
Once roasted, a pioneering pressurization in the world is applied to the grain by which oxygen is replaced by an inert gas, guaranteeing the perfect conservation of the coffee without oxidizing.
How is the correct transformation of the grain guaranteed and the third pillar completed?
When the coffee arrives at the place where it is going to be drunk, a network of professionals visits all these establishments monthly. This equipment has the objective of training hospitality professionals in the correct transformation of coffee, checking the condition of the machines, the temperature and the pressure of the water. We have trained more than 50,000 professionals in these 30 years, thus guaranteeing that the effort invested in the process does not disappear in the last step. For all this we can guarantee that the coffee is the same, whether it is drunk in the neighborhood cafeteria or in a Michelin Star restaurant. Social responsibility is the third leg. illycaffé and art walk hand in hand thanks to the patronage of the Guggenheim Museum, the Reina Sofía, the Thyssen, the MACBA and the Palau de la Música, among others.
What are the future challenges for illycaffé?
We work on three focuses: the first is to educate the consumer about coffee knowledge. The second challenge is the transformation of business models to accompany young people in new ways of drinking coffee. In this sense we work on subscription modalities, both at home and in business. This model is an important agent for attracting and converting new clients and collaborators. The third challenge is the expansion of consumption moments. Coffee is a real and healthy alternative to carbonated and sugary products.
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