Italian espressamente illy coffee shop chain opens in South Korea. The coffee group sees a strong Asian demand for espresso-based blends as part of global consumption prospects for Italian arabica bean roasters. The new boutique café is located in South Korea, in Busan city, at the Shinsegae Centum City, the biggest shopping centre worldwide, which appears in the Guinness book of World Records. The Centum, has 9 floors and it provides the largest global emporium of about 57,851 square metres of commercial space. Located in this important building, the espressamente illy outlet is open every day from 10.30 am to 10pm and features a full-range retail area with a iperespresso machine showcase.
DEMAND FOR ESPRESSO BLEND TO INCREASE IN ASIA – illycaffè, an Italian coffee roaster that specializes in making arabica-based espresso, is planning to boost the number of retail outlets to absorb the growth of demand for Italian coffee preparations. “Currently our network includes 230 stores in 43 countries, serving 37 million consumers, and our goal is to open 100 new stores between now and 2017,” Francesco Illy, President of illy, told the press. For example, the US coffee giant, Starbucks, has more than 21,000 retail stores in 66 countries, its website says. Illy said he believed a slide in ICE arabica coffee futures to 13-month lows last week was linked to a wider decline in commodity prices, notably oil. “Coffee prices have experienced this decline notwithstanding a slight production deficit, caused by drought in Brazil and increased coffee consumption levels,” illy said.