The Coffee Dream

The coffee dream projects itself into the future, toward new generations and new challenges. A call for hope and responsibility, a call to cultivate together a beautiful, good, and well-crafted future.

Blending evocative images and personal reflections, this coffee table book-cum-essay is centered on coffee as a symbol, an experience, a culture, and a project. The text, written by Andrea Illy, a humanist entrepreneur, combines the personal dimension with a global vision. Making the work even more special is a precious collection of photographs: the intense and poetic images of the undisputed master of social documentary photography, Sebastião Salgado, and shots by Elisabetta Illy, taken over the course of twenty years working in close contact with the producers.

The Coffee Dream is a book that begs to be read, to be looked at, to be reflected upon. Its splendid images are a hymn to the dignity and beauty of human labor on coffee plantations. Passion percolates through the stories, serving as an invitation to rediscover the value of doing things with care, of tradition but also of far-sighted dreams, and the connections that give meaning to our existence. | Andrea Illy is an entrepreneur and president of illycaffè, part of the third generation at the helm of the family business. He promotes creating business models based on sustainability, culture, and a humanistic approach to innovation. An author and speaker, he frequently discusses topics related to the future, business ethics, and the value of beauty. Alessandra Viola is a writer, journalist, TV writer, science communicator, and environmental expert. Her books include Flower Power! Plants and Their Rights (Einaudi 2020).