‘I see my role as that of a doctor: once I’m done, I move on to the next patient’

Cristina Scocchia, one of the few female CEOs in Italy, landed her first internship in 1996 by faking it.

“In the CV I sent to Procter & Gamble I had written that I spoke ‘good’ English, but I didn’t speak English well at all, and after passing the writing exam I had to sit for an interview with an American executive,” recalls the CEO. from the coffee manufacturer Illycaffè.

His potential employers yelled at him; Scocchia confessed and presented some mitigating circumstances. “In my country of origin, English was not taught,” he recalls. “Otherwise they would never have considered my request.[and]I really wanted the chance to show them that I was good. . . “It was my American dream.”

Years later she became her interviewer’s boss as she rose through the ranks at the American multinational’s European headquarters in Geneva, eventually becoming head of international cosmetics operations. “Over time I learned English,” she laughs.

Scocchia, 50, has been CEO of three different companies in the last decade, in a country where only 4 percent of all CEOs, with an average age of almost 60, are women. “I doubt she would have had the same career path if she hadn’t left Italy,” she says.

If we convince even just 1 percent of the population [of China] drinking Illycaffè will be a great victory

She has honed her leadership skills on tough business cases, including a turnaround at Kiko Milano, the makeup brand in which LVMH-backed L Catterton acquired a majority stake this year. At Illy, which he joined in January 2022, his task is not rescue but expansion: taking the family coffee maker public and increasing sales outside Italy, in the face of supply chain pressures, change climate change and environmental degradation that pose profound risks to the industry. coffee trade.

“I came in with a clear objective. . . grow internationally, so we are ready to list,” she says. “I see my role a bit like that of a doctor. . . I like to take care of a specific condition, once I’m done with the work I like to move on to the next patient. . . Before Illycaffè, patients needed changes, here the challenge is new for me.”

From his offices in Milan, Scocchia says he is optimistic about securing international expansion despite headwinds that could jeopardize the IPO plans. “The company recorded the best results in its history in 2023 without downloading more [raw materials and logistics] The costs fall entirely on consumers.”

In 2023, revenue grew by more than 5 percent year-on-year to reach around €600 million, while profits increased by 67 percent compared to 2022. Illy, Italy’s third largest coffee maker by revenue, already exports two thirds of its products abroad, but The international business remains “fragmented” in 140 countries, says Scocchia.

Its plan is to focus on expansion in a few lucrative territories, especially in the United States, where President Andrea Illy, a descendant of the founding family, saying Last year the ideal was to be included on the list. The United States accounts for one-sixth of Illy’s total revenue; According to Scocchia’s five-year plan, it should grow to a proportion equivalent to that of Italy, which constitutes a third of income. To increase brand awareness globally, the company has opened a few cafes in prime locations, including London’s South Kensington and Milan’s fashion district. He plans to open a branch in New York. The company also wants to expand in China, where consumers generally prefer tea. “It is a great challenge but. . . “If we convince even 1 percent of the population to drink Illycaffè, it will be a great victory.”

Illy beans are sourced primarily in South America and then shipped back to Trieste, the company’s headquarters in northern Italy, where they are processed and packaged. They are then transported back across the Atlantic to the US, where a 250-gram can sells for about $15. “Americans love ‘made in Italy’ products, so they have to be made in Italy,” Scocchia says. But the logistics involved expose Illy to volatility.

Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas last October, detours to avoid the Suez Canal have lengthened travel times and reduced the number of ships available, increasing costs by more than 30 percent. The price of raw coffee has also increased since Scocchia’s initial projections, due to climate change and, in part, the war in Ukraine. “We complete our business plan in February 2022 based on a [certain] Raw coffee cost 110 cents a pound, the following month the price had more than doubled.” Deforestation – “not only a big problem for our industry but also for communities in developing countries” – is likely to worsen the situation, threatening to leave half of the world’s coffee plantations unusable by 2050.

Between 2022 and 2023, production costs increased more than 17 percent; Illy passed on only a third of that figure to consumers. “We decided to take on the rest and compress our margins,” says Scocchia. “If you are an ethical company, you must be prepared to do your part.” The first Italian coffee maker to achieve B Corp status, its president is a pioneer in sustainability and has historically paid producers above market value to maintain supply.

[During Covid] I finally put into practice what I have believed since childhood: leadership is responsibility, not power.

Scocchia already knew Illy when she joined: in 2019, Andrea Illy approached her about joining the board of directors. “I think it was a way to probe me and get to know me better at board meetings.” She had aspired to be CEO since she was little; not, she says, because she had a “thirst for power,” but to show “responsibility to lead and care for a community.”

Hired by P&G while in college, she juggled “very long office hours” to complete her studies. It was intense, but her opportunity for “a village girl was the fourth card of a poker”: in her hometown of Liguria, the ambition to be CEO was unusual. “Everyone thought she was crazy considering my disadvantaged background and gender, except my father,” she says. “He taught Me that your starting point should not determine who you become.”

She says her time at P&G pushed her to reject “easy roles” in favor of challenges that demanded creativity. “My boss at the time pointed out that it was easy to come up with a marketing strategy for a desirable product. . . “Where you could make a difference was with an unattractive one.”

One of the first successes was leading the revival of Kukident denture adhesive, in part through a successful advertising campaign. It showed an elderly couple kissing in the rain with a voiceover saying: “Only one of them wears false teeth, guess who.” She realized that making an unglamorous product sexy could be fun. “The teaching that has made a difference throughout my career [is to] generate an impact where there are challenges.”

In 2013, L’Oréal hired Scocchia to run its Italian business, which at the time had not been profitable for years. He took the helm of Kiko Milano in 2017 to clean up a botched international expansion. In its first three years, Kiko was forced to exit the United States through Chapter 11 bankruptcy of its domestic subsidiary, eliminate nearly 800 jobs, close 14 percent of global stores and embark on a complicated debt restructuring. The company doubled its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 24 months.

Scocchia affirms that the experience was “an enormous human and management challenge.” But facing crisis when he created the company, what came next was: shortly after the business became profitable again, Italy became the first Western country under lockdown as the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc across the continent, with Bergamo, where Kiko is based, among the most affected areas.

“I decided that we were going to close the business, including the e-commerce channel, before the Italian government ordered the closure, because I had no way of making sure that staff and suppliers were safe,” explains Scocchia. “It was not an easy choice just after completing a two-year turnaround, people feared they would be fired. . . But we promised it wouldn’t be like that.”

In the end, it kept its word: despite suffering a 30 to 50 percent drop in revenue, the company avoided job losses and continued paying salaries. She describes the pandemic as the most “rewarding” moment of her career. “I was finally able to put into practice what I believed since my childhood: leadership means responsibility, not power.”

Now at Illy, he says he is applying the same principles to the IPO: the macroeconomic environment presents setbacks, but moving forward is a responsibility. “If businesses simply retreat, economies will be paralyzed,” he says. “We are doing everything in our power to move forward and carry out our plan.”

She says her immediate priorities in preparation are to attract global talent. While she intensifies local operations abroad, she plans to maintain strong control of production and sales from Trieste, strengthening trust and improving coordination in different areas of the business.

“That means being willing to question yourself and prove yourself on the field. . . not just because you are their boss,” he says. “A top-down leadership approach is never helpful; people will follow you when you have influence.”