Riccardo Illy is the Chairman of Polo del Gusto, the holding company for Groupo Illy's non-coffee businesses, with controlling interests in a number of world-class producers of chocolate, tea, wine, and confections. The Illy brand has a passion for quality and for growth pursued the right way: this has led to rewarding investments in everything from Domori's legendary chocolates to Mastrojanni's magnificent wines.

He lectures regularly at business schools around the world, from Stanford in the United States to HEC in Paris to MIB in Trieste. He is the Academic Director at Italia Innovation, an organization which fosters research, education, and new ventures in the manufacturing economy with a humanistic approach.