Riccardo Illy, the founder of Polo del Gusto, a sub-holding of Gruppo Illy that brings together brands of excellence from the world of Food & Beverage. In the Polo del Gusto project three ideas coexist: a family idea, a business idea, an idea of innovative development. The entrepreneur from Trieste, has put together, under the same roof, a series of brands that interpret the unique quality and stand for Made in Italy. Over a short period of time the Illy Company combined the production of chocolate and tea with that of coffee, and the founder Francesco Illy had also planned to produce fruit jams. This has influenced the hand-picking of the companies which today sit under the umbrella of Polo del Gusto: Damman, Domori, Mastrojanni, Agrimontana and Pintaudi. Today it continues to handpick other stand-out Companies, that share the the idea linked to the four pillars of Disruptive Quality: unique products, superior raw materials, better production processes, sustainability. This vision and mission differentiates Riccardo Illy from other Italian Agri-food entrepreneurs; as it focuses bringing teams and Italian brands together.
With the Polo del Gusto, Riccardo Illy created an open project, where openness is not a theoretical concept, but the concrete willingness to become a hub, a reference point for realities which could become successful endeavours. For example, "Pintaudi" and its biscuits joining the Group, the right company to enrich an offer that already included Agrimontana, Dammann Frères, Mastrojanni wines and Domori chocolate. Describing the vision of Riccardo Illy, merged into his "Polo" project, we could call it the "luxury of taste". Luxury in the context of precise characteristics. The "Polo" was also created to create synergy, a critical success factor for the Italian agri-food business. Pintaudi, for example, increased its turnover thanks to the Domori sales network. We can become a replicable model, a hub for those who want to grow ", Riccardo Illy says. " We have very clear ideas about the direction that “Polo” is preparing to take: “A sector that we like is that of sweets. They are very interesting, they certainly need to be reinterpreted according to current standards, so we will complete our journey into the sweet, then we will move on to the prairie of salty, starting with pasta, rice, extra virgin olive oil and maybe balsamic vinegar". Restate sintonizzati!
Write a comment