illycaffè Named One of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for the Eighth Consecutive Year

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffè S.p.A., an Italian coffee company frontrunner 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 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies.

illycaffè is committed to the highest ethical standards in continuously improving the quality of life for all its stakeholders. 2020 marks the eighth consecutive year illycaffè has earned this recognition, and furthermore, is one of only six companies that received the honor this year in the Food, Beverage & Agriculture category. In 2020, 132 honorees were recognized spanning 21 countries and 51 industries.

"Upholding the highest ethics under a rigorous sustainable framework is essential not only to develop our company and our industry, but also to do our best for global society, the planet's health and well-being of generations to come," said Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffè S.p.A. "These tenets are shared by Ethisphere, and we are proud to be recognized among its 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies. It's a further demonstration of the consistency of our business model and of our managers' capability to create an ethical context within the company, which is the base to develop a sustainable business model that will generate value for stakeholders".  

"Congratulations to everyone at illycaffè for earning this recognition for the eighth consecutive year," said Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "Today, ethics and values are among the most important drivers to stakeholders, and companies that uphold and deliver on their promises year-after-year are who will continue to grow within their industry."

To extend its long-demonstrated commitment to the global coffee community, illycaffè recently launched Circolo illy, a digital platform for stakeholders within the coffee supply chain, such as producers, growers, exporters, agronomists, among others, who can now gain access, at no cost, to knowledge and dialogue that will stimulate sustainable growing practices helping to work toward a goal of spreading a culture of sustainable quality, virtuous collaboration and growth.

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. Best practices and insights from the 2020 honorees will be released in a report and webcast in March and April of this year.

All companies that participate in the assessment process receive an Analytical Scorecard providing them a holistic assessment of where their programs stand against the demanding standards of leading companies.

Honorees
The full list of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

About illycaffè
illycaffè is an Italian family-owned company founded in Trieste in 1933, which has always pursued the mission of offering the best coffee in the world. illycaffè produces a unique blend of 100% Arabica coffee, combining 9 of the best qualities in the world according to illy. Every day 8 million cups of illy coffee are enjoyed around the globe in over 140 countries, in the finest coffee shops, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafés and shops, and of course at home. The company's many innovations have contributed to important technological developments in the world of coffee. In 1991 the company founded the "Ernesto Illy Award for quality espresso coffee" in Brazil, promoting the sharing of expertise and recognising the efforts of coffee growers by offering a higher price for what illy believes to be the best quality coffee. This has grown into a partnership based on the principles of sustainable development. The company also founded the Università del Caffè, an educational institution which strives to promote coffee culture at all levels, offering complete and practical training for growers, baristas and coffee lovers, and seeking to deepen the knowledge about every aspect of the product. Everything that is 'made in illy' is also enriched with beauty and art. These are fundamental values for the brand, from the logo designed by the artist James Rosenquist, to the cups of the illy Art Collection which have been decorated by over 100 international artists. In 2018 the company employed 1294 people and had a consolidated turnover of € 483 million. There are around 259 illy stores and single-brand stores around the world in 43 countries.

About the Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.

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