Illy: Brazil also became a leader in coffee quality – 01/30/2024 – Café na Prensa

Brazil is today a leader not only in the quantity, but also in the quality of coffee, he tells Coffee in the Press Andrea Illy, global president of the Italian Illycaffè, one of the most traditional companies in the sector.

The country, historically the largest coffee exporter in the world, has always been seen as a producer of commodity beans, of medium to low quality, while coffees from Colombia, Central America and Africa were recognized as the highest quality.

This reality has been changing little by little. One piece of evidence of this is that a bean produced in Cerrado Mineiro won the Best of the Best trophy in the eighth edition of the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award, described by the American magazine The New Yorker as a kind of “Coffee World Cup”. The awards ceremony took place at the New York Public Library in November last year.

The analogy of the American publication is due more to the format of the competition than to its importance, as there are competitions with greater scope, such as the Cup of Excellence. At the Ernesto Illy International Awards, a panel made up of experts blindly analyzes nine coffees that represent the nine finalist countries. This year, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua and Rwanda competed in the final.

“Today, it is symbolic that Brazil was able to win the Ernesto Illy award, which is the most sophisticated award that can be found on the market. It means that Brazil was able to become a leading producer of quantity and also a leader of quality”, he says.

Andrea highlights the work done by Illy herself in this movement to improve coffee in Brazil. In fact, the company played an important role in the beginning of the gourmetization of Brazilian coffee farming, by organizing an award to recognize grain producers who achieved certain sensorial quality standards.

The initiative caused several farmers to take more care in handling and post-harvest. The project became one of the precursors to the various awards that were later implemented across the country.

He recalls that, when Illy began purchasing Brazilian coffees through direct purchase, more than 30 years ago, the country was still a reference only in so-called commodity coffee. “Everything was mixed and there was no traceability, no differentiation,” he says.

Asked about the Best of the Best-winning Brazilian coffee, Andrea says he found it incredibly aromatic and compares it to great Central American and African coffees.

“It has an acidity that is balanced, but very delicate. There is no defect in any way, this is very, very important”, he says. And he concludes: “The aroma of the coffee is very delicate. It looks like great coffee from Ethiopia, Guatemala, Colombia.”

Therefore, he says, it was “with great surprise” and “with great happiness for everyone” that the Brazilian grain was crowned Best of the Best.

Wanted by Coffee in the PressGuima, the company that produces the winning grain in Varjão de Minas, in Cerrado Mineiro, informed that the winning batch will soon be launched for the end consumer in an exclusive edition.

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Andrea Illy, 59

Andrea Illy was born on September 2, 1964 in Trieste, son of Ernesto and grandson of Francesco, founder of Illy. He graduated in chemistry from the University of Trieste. In 1990, he joined illycaffè as supervisor of the quality control department. In 1994 he was appointed CEO of illycaffè SpA and held that position until 2016. He has been president of the company since 2005.

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