INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL Intellectual Capital 67 2018 Sustainable Value Report
Social Environmental Economic Development Sustainibility INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL Intellectual Capital 67 2018 Sustainable Value Report 5.1 Innovation and research 28 270,579 6 329 Highlights University of Coffee trained people since 2000 million Euro investment patents, 261 were approved branches at global level in Research & Development and 68 are pending Intellectual Capital 2018 Sustainable Value Report The approach based on science and technology is fundamental for illycaffè and it has been a distinguishing feature in the whole history of the company, contributing to its growth and success. Over the past century, eight ground- breaking innovations radically transformed the world of coffee, and 3 of them were introduced by illycaffè: • Pressurization in 1933: a preservation system replacing air with high- pressure inert gas in the package to maintain the freshness of coffee and to enhance its aroma; • Illetta in 1935: the forerunner of current professional coffee machines with high-pressure espresso formula, launching espresso machines in coffee bars; • Paper pods in 1974: the first portioned system, created to export espresso in countries with a shortage of highly skilled baristas. In 1988 illycaffè patented the system to sort coffee beans digitally – the bichromate sorter – which only selects perfectly ripe beans. Actually, it takes just one defective bean, out of the fifty beans that are needed to make a cup of espresso coffee, to disrupt quality. Lastly, illycaffè most recent innovation is Iperspresso, a capsule system that extracts coffee in two phases – hyperinfusion and emulsion - producing a unique qualitative result and an extraordinary rich and velvety crema. The company is constantly at the forefront in the research and development of innovative technological solutions thanks to its R&D Department, which is recognized as an international excellence centre.
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