Cristina Scocchia was formerly CEO of cosmetics firm Kiko | Photo credit: illycaffè

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Italian coffee roaster and café chain, illycaffè, has started the new year with a new CEO. Cristina Scocchia took over the role from Massimiliano Pogliani on 1 January 2022, marking the end of Pogliani’s five-year tenure in the role. 
 
Scocchia, who was CEO of cosmetics company Kiko since 2017 and held the positions of CEO and Chairwoman at L'Oréal Italia has been a on Illycaffe's board since 2019. She also a board director for lens, frames and sunglasses manufacturer, EssilorLuxottica.
 
“It is with great enthusiasm that I begin this new business chapter. I carry with me the values I have always believed in: Ethics, transparency, meritocracy, sustainability, diversity, inclusion, commitment. And a guiding principle: People come always first,” Scocchia wrote on social media.
 
Massimiliano Pogliani, who became illycaffè’s first non-family member to lead the company in 2017, oversaw major developments including the sale of a 20% stake US-based Rhône Capital in November 2020, the subsequent expansion of its retail packaged coffee business in the US and attaining B Corp certification in April 2021.
 
Scocchia is now set to lead a new chapter of illycaffè’s growth, with Chairman Andrea Illy indicating late last year that the company would pursue a potential stock market listing in 2022.