ILLYCAFFE S.P.A

Their core work

illycaffè is one of the world's most recognized premium coffee companies, headquartered in Trieste, Italy. In H2020 projects, they serve as an industry partner contributing real-world coffee expertise — from sensor technologies for quality control (IPCOS) to sustainable coffee breeding (BREEDCAFS) and extraction of bio-active ingredients from coffee and other natural sources (Prolific). Their participation bridges the gap between academic food science research and commercial coffee production, providing industry-scale validation and application testing.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

illycaffè's H2020 trajectory shows a clear shift from analytical science toward sustainable sourcing and ingredient valorisation. Their earliest project (IPCOS, 2015) focused on sensor development for coffee quality detection. By 2017-2018, they moved into agricultural sustainability (BREEDCAFS) and bio-active ingredient extraction from multiple natural sources including coffee, legumes, and fungi (Prolific), signaling a broadening interest in the full coffee value chain — from farm to functional food ingredient.

illycaffè is moving upstream toward sustainable agriculture and downstream toward functional food ingredients, positioning themselves as an industry partner for the full coffee value chain.

How they like to work

illycaffè participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with a large industry player contributing application expertise and testing infrastructure rather than leading academic consortia. With 43 unique partners across 19 countries in just 3 projects, they join large, internationally diverse consortia. This suggests they are a valued industry end-user that research teams seek out for real-world validation and market credibility.

Despite only 3 projects, illycaffè has built a remarkably wide network of 43 partners across 19 countries, reflecting their participation in large international research consortia in the food and agriculture sector.

What sets them apart

illycaffè brings something rare to EU research consortia: they are a globally recognized premium coffee brand with deep institutional knowledge of coffee chemistry, supply chains, and consumer markets. Unlike a university lab or generic food company, they can validate research outputs against real commercial production requirements and bring innovations to market. For any project involving coffee, tropical crops, or functional food ingredients, they offer unmatched industry credibility and application-testing capability.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BREEDCAFS
  Their largest funded project (EUR 402,000), addressing climate-resilient coffee breeding for agroforestry — directly tied to illycaffè's long-term supply chain sustainability.
• Prolific
  Expanded illycaffè's research scope beyond coffee into legumes and fungi, exploring cascading biorefinery processes for extracting proteins and bio-active molecules.
• IPCOS
  An MSCA training network developing polymer-based coffee sensors — showing illycaffè's commitment to next-generation quality control technology.