Illycaffè introduces Espressamente cafés around the world
Posted by TheShot on 28 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew, Starbucks
In the August 7 issue of BusinessWeek, there’s an article titled “Basta With The Venti Frappuccinos.” According to this article, Andrea Illy, the head of Illycaffè, is out to show the Starbucks of this world how espresso should be done. They have started rolling out hundreds of licensed cafés under the brand name Espressamente.
Espressawhat?, you might ask? Meaning “clearly” or “expressly” in Italian, these cafés are cropping up in Europe (and France, in particular, which could use some decent coffee), Asia, and some temporary locations in New York City. Illycaffè is being a bit cagey about the very un-European U.S. market, however, and suggested they will plan an arrival only after “careful study.”
Unlike Starbucks’ kumbaya community focus, Espressamente is an attempt to create a destination with a focus on coffee quality and aesthetics. However, it begs the question of just how different these will be from what we’ve already seen from, say, the American incursion of Segafreddo- or Lavazza-branded cafés. The concept of creating a themed chain of cafés from a well-known Italian coffee brand has been done before — and with decent, but not headline-worthy, results.
Which is a lot like their imported coffee: very high quality standards, but yet they must still vacuum-pack and ship their beans thousands of miles after roasting them — losing something in transatlantic translation.
4 Comments »
on 28 Sep 2006 at 2:20 pm -05:00T 1.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » Head barista: Andrea Illy of Illycaffè said …
[...] The article reviews Illy’s strategy behind their recent opening of Espressamente Illy cafés across Europe and temporary exhibits such as “Beauty has a taste” in New York City — all primarily as advertisements for the Illy brand. It also touches on his skepticism about the Fair Trade movement — which he claims rewards growers for certification rather than quality. [...]
on 26 Oct 2006 at 8:07 pm -05:00T 2.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » I Have Returned… said …
[...] And while I did not encounter a single Starbucks or other known U.S. chain in the entire country, there were some European phenomena afoot — such as my discovery of an Illy Espressamente café located in the walls of the Praça de Touros do Campo Pequeno, a Moorish-styled bullring in the geographic center of Lisbon. [...]
on 13 Nov 2006 at 10:21 pm -06:00T 3.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » Trip Report: Illy Espressamente - Lisbon said …
[...] Back in July we reported on Illy’s strategy for opening licensed Illy Espressamente cafés across Europe. During my travels in Portugal last month, I had the pleasure of encountering my first one in the unlikeliest of places. [...]
on 25 Dec 2006 at 5:21 pm -06:00T 4.Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com » Italian coffee company illy looks to expand with luxury said …
[...] Today’s International Herald Tribune published an article on Illy’s growth strategy of luxury cafés: Italian coffee company illy looks to expand with luxury - Business - International Herald Tribune. Illy’s café chain is called Espressamente. We reviewed a Lisbon Espressamente here last month. [...]