Illycaffè S.p.A. (branded and stylised as illy) is an Italian coffee company specializing in espresso, headquartered in Trieste. Illy markets its coffee globally in silver and red pressurized, oxygen-free cans; operates a network of cafes on shopping streets, in museums, and in airports; and, since 2009, has marketed a line of coffee-flavored energy drinks as illy issimo. Either as whole beans or ground coffee, Illy offers medium, dark, and decaffeinated roast variations; as well as single-origin arabica variations, as available; each from Brazil, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Tanzania or India. Seasonally, the company offers Idillyum, a low-caffeine arabica grown in El Salvador. The company packages coffee as whole beans, pre-ground coffee, ESE pods, and iperEspresso capsules. Illy was founded in 1933 by Francesco Illy, remains family-controlled and employs about 2700+ employees (2015). 2016 revenues totalled €460 million, and in late 2019, Illycaffee sought to expand into the United States market, offering a 20% stake in the company to potential investors. History Illy was founded by Hungarian Francesco Illy (Illy Ferenc in Hungarian), born in Temesvár in the Austria-Hungary Empire, what is now Timișoara, Romania. Illy later moved to Trieste during World War I as an officer in the army. After the war, he remained in Trieste, which had recently come under Italian rule, and in 1933 set up a cocoa and coffee business, eventually concentrating on coffee. Focusing his interest on espresso, in 1935, Illy invented the first automatic coffee machine which substituted pressurized water for steam, marketed as the illetta, the predecessor of contemporary espresso machines. Illy developed a packaging system to preserve coffee, where coffee-filled cans are pressurized with nitrogen, to prevent oxidation. Illy coffee was soon marketed outside the Trieste area and was eventually marketed throughout Italy. After World War II, control of the company passed to Ernesto Illy (1925–2008), the son of the founder, who started a research laboratory that would ultimately develop numerous inventions and patents. As a scientist and researcher, Ernesto Illy established cooperative agreements with universities and research centers and promoted coffee globally. Ernesto's son Andrea Illy is currently the company chairman, and Andrea's sister Anna Illy and brothers Francesco Illy and Riccardo Illy are on the board of directors. Illy coffee is available globally, with price differences reflecting global tariffs. In 1999, Illy established the University of Coffee, Unicaffe, in Naples to support education, research and innovation related to coffee.