Premium Italian roaster illycaffè has signed a multi-year production agreement with U.S.-based Westrock Coffee Company, a move that will see a much larger share of its North America-bound ready-to-drink coffees packaged in the United States while all roasting remains in Trieste, Italy.
The deal, confirmed on 30 June 2026 by illycaffè CEO Cristina Scocchia to outlets including Daily Coffee News and Comunicaffe, will double the proportion of U.S.-destined illy products that are packaged locally, primarily in ready-to-drink (RTD) formats. Scocchia described the United States as “a priority market” where illycaffè has recorded double-digit growth over the past four years, calling the partnership “a key milestone” in its North American growth plan, according to Daily Coffee News.
Under the agreement, Westrock will provide what Daily Coffee News reported as a “multi-site platform” for developing and packaging specific illycaffè products for North America. Westrock’s production base includes a 570,000-square-foot roast-to-RTD facility in Conway, Arkansas, inaugurated in June 2024 at a cost of US$315 million and equipped with two 360-kilogram-per-batch Scolari roasters, as detailed in a Westrock investor release. A second 525,000-square-foot plant dedicated to single-serve pod manufacturing opened in Conway in July 2025, with Westrock stating in a subsequent release that the combined facilities are expected to employ 900 people at full capacity.
Despite the new North American packaging footprint, illycaffè has emphasized that all coffee roasting will continue to take place at its historic headquarters in Trieste, Italy. Comunicaffe and Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore have reported that illycaffè is currently expanding its production capacity there, including a new roasting plant and increased output on its 250-gram tin line, and that around 100 new staff were permanently recruited in Trieste in 2025, according to Comunicaffe and local outlet Quotidiano.
Scocchia has repeatedly described the current cost environment as extraordinary. In an interview with Italian business outlet RipartelItalia in May 2026, she stated that the price of green coffee had reached 368 cents per pound in 2025, triple the historical average since 1972 and 50% more than in 2024. In a separate conversation with Il Sole 24 Ore in September 2025, she noted that green coffee prices had subsequently climbed as high as 430 cents per pound and cited 15% tariffs as well as rising logistics costs as additional pressures.
According to RipartelItalia, Scocchia said land transport costs had increased by 10–15% and electricity by around 15%, in a context of geopolitical tensions including conflict involving Iraq and Iran and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a key corridor for fertilizer shipments. Speaking to Il Sole 24 Ore, she added that Europe represented a “safe harbor” for illycaffè amid growing trade barriers and tariffs, while also indicating that the company did not plan further price increases in 2025 unless raw material prices rose again.
The Westrock partnership sits alongside continued investment in illycaffè’s European base. Il Sole 24 Ore reported that in the first half of 2025 the company generated revenues of €319 million, up 11% year-on-year, with EBITDA of €48 million and net profit of €15 million. Over the same period illycaffè acquired a Swiss distributor and 80% of Italian coffee-machine maker Capitani, and launched new capsule ranges including recycled aluminum “X-Caps” and Coffee B, a capsule-less, fully compostable coffee ball system.
From Westrock’s perspective, the illycaffè agreement extends a platform that the Arkansas company says already serves “many of the world’s most iconic brands.” In a statement provided to Daily Coffee News, a Westrock representative said the company was “excited to welcome Illycaffè as the newest member of our platform,” and highlighted plans to keep expanding its RTD and private-label footprint across Europe and Asia.
Industry commentary suggests the move will test how far consumers are willing to separate roasting provenance from final packaging location for a brand long associated with Italian-made coffee. Specialty-focused site Coffee Glee described the illy–Westrock agreement as a “tradition meets pragmatism” play that challenges the notion that premium Italian coffee must be entirely processed and packaged in Italy, and reported that many coffee aficionados are likely to scrutinize closely whether North American-packaged products offer identical quality to those finished in Trieste.
While neither illycaffè nor Westrock has detailed specific product types or manufacturing roles beyond confirming a focus on RTD and North America, Daily Coffee News noted that both companies declined to provide further information or publish the agreement through their own pressrooms or investor channels. Coffee Glee reported that illycaffè expects the first U.S.-destined products manufactured through Westrock to reach the market as the company continues to expand roasting capacity in Trieste.
Behind the corporate strategy, Scocchia summarized illycaffè’s broader ambition in her RipartelItalia interview: “We want to grow organically, in revenue in Italy, Europe, the US and globally,” she said, positioning the Westrock partnership and the Trieste expansion as parallel paths within the same growth plan.
