Ethisphere Names illycaffè Among The 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies, Marking Its Ninth Consecutive Honor

Recognition honors companies that understand the importance of leading, making hard but values-based decisions, and demonstrate an overall commitment to integrity.

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffè S.p.A., a global coffee industry leader in sustainable quality, has been recognized by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies. This year marks the Company's ninth consecutive honor.

illycaffè regards upholding the highest ethical standards as fundamental to its operations. The Company maintains a longstanding commitment to improving the quality of life for all of its stakeholders, from farmers to consumers. Recognition by Ethisphere as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies strongly validates the Company's efforts to help create a more sustainable world for many generations to come. illycaffè is the only Italian company to receive this honor and is one of only six recipients in the Food, Beverage & Agriculture category. In total, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 22 countries and 47 industries for 2021.

"Maintaining and promoting strong ethics and values are essential to affecting positive change throughout our global society, as is recognizing the private sector's essential role in creating a world that is more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable now and for generations to come," said Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffè S.p.A. "One of our current major focus is reducing our environmental impact throughout the entire supply chain, one meaningful, measurable step at a time, with the ultimate goal to be carbon neutral by 2033. We are proud to be recognized by the Ethisphere Institute for our stewardship and commitment to ethical business practices and thank them for their continued role in inspiring companies to be and do their best for the world."

"While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead – above all other institutions – on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity," said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. "The World's Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at illycaffè for earning the World's Most Ethical Companies designation."

The accolade comes a year after illy launched its 'One Makes The Difference' campaign, which highlighted its sustainability mission. Part of this was the announcement of its ambition to be carbon neutral by 2033 and its plans to eliminate approximately 175 tons of plastic per year, which illy achieved in 2020. Additionally, illy launched a range of sustainable takeaway cups with lids, both of which are made from high quality paper so can be easily recycled without compromising the user experience. Illy is proud to have met the European Union's 20-20-20 target one year early: 100% of its electricity comes from renewable sources, and it recuperates the heat from its roasting machines to heat their premises in winter and cool them down in summer. So far, illy has already reduced its CO₂ emissions by over 3,000 tonnes since 2012.

Methodology & Scoring

Grounded in Ethisphere's proprietary Ethics Quotient®, the World's Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe.

This year, the process was streamlined and question set expanded to gauge how applicants are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social, and governance factors, safety, equity, and inclusion and social justice.

Honorees 

The full list of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

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