Verona, 17th January 2013. When Gildo Gennari needs to take an international sales trip, buy business supplies or purchase advertising, he avoids writing a cheque whenever possible. Instead, for the past year, the owner of Tenuta Maraveja Vinyards in Verona has traded wine for what he needs, using the Biella office of the international barter system called the Ormita Commerce Network (www.ormita.com).

“In this tough economy it is preferable for businesses to utilize their existing capacity to pay for goods and services that they need,” says Gennari. “A lack of money hasn’t stopped me from producing. The lack of money is a transactional problem, not a problem of not having enough resources in the community. If businesses like mine can purchase by trading what they have for what we need then it doesn’t need to be like that.”

Gennari’s story has been repeated across Italy, with businesses rapidly joining Ormita in bartering to extend their cash flow in today's unpredictable economy.

“When cash flow is poor, bartering comes in handy,” said Ms Cinzia Gremmo, CEO of Ormita Italia. There's a side benefit, too. Many businesses claim that bartering allows them to acquire clients who might never think of using your product or service or who, because of heavy competition, may be more price sensitive and shop elsewhere.

Others also see working with business barter exchange networks as much more than just a tool for saving cash. “Barter is a type of collaborative consumption,” says Daniel Evans, CEO of Ormita’s international operations based out of the UK. “When a business pays another company in cash there is no guarantee that someone else will make a purchase in return. This is essentially a one-way transaction with money leaking from the local economy. By working together in a barter network money stays within the local economy and participants collaboratively work together for the good of all. In short: whatever you spend is returned back to you in new sales.”

Despite having an international footprint, Ormita keeps the focus on helping Italian business owners grow their business and gain additional clients by encouraging businesses in the community to “Buy Local and Trade Local.” The company provides an innovative marketplace for local businesses like Tenuta Maraveja to buy and sell from each other without needing to outlay additional cash.

All members receive a Line of Credit with 0% interest so they can immediately begin making purchases from any of the networks 220,000 members. Instead of repaying this line of credit in cash, the participants repay in their own goods and services to others in the network.

“You can make a purchase from a member that does not need your services,” says Loredana Zambelli, manager of Biogest in Ligure, a food and beverage analysis lab specialising in wine certification.

Other companies have also reaped significant rewards from being a member. These include:

- Publiart (buying 2 stands at a wedding expo and direct marketing services from another member, Bussolino)
- Sepa S.r.l (sold welcome desk to Radio Club '91 and furnishings to Biogets and purchased Christmas gifts in return)
- SanTeodoro.it (a Sardinian hotel which purchased an ebooking website and sells rooms on barter in return)
- Media E Media '93 (purchasing chocolates and presents from one member and selling advertising to a hotel in return)
- Centro Servizi Industriali (purchasing a vacuum and who sells dyeing and resinate flooring in repayment)

And that’s just for starters. “One of our members is in discussions with us now to purchase almost €2 million worth of fittings, electronics and toiletries for their hotel chain and we’ve just signed an Italian airline which helps compliment our existing international network of airlines who already barter with us,” says Ms Gremmo.

With 2,600 business participants already spread across Italy, the business is rapidly expanding. The company will do its “official” Italian launch in conjunction with UK Trade and Investment some time in March 2013.

Contact: Cinzia Gremmo
Ormita Italia s.r.l
Via Trossi 11
Biella. 13900
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +39 15 952 6193
Website: www.ormita.it
www.ormita.com
www.barterforadvertising.com