The prolonged recession has hit areas of the world such as southern Europe a little harder than the rest. In the town of Florence, Italy, restaurant owners Donella and Frank Faggioli have decided to allow customers to barter goods in exchange for traditional Tuscan meals. The idea is to encourage people to dine out despite the economic crisis. Their 40-seat restaurant called L’e’ Maiala is taking customers back to the good old days, where exchanges were based on haggling and handshakes.

Donella Faggioli trades traditional bottles of chianti wine for meals at her restaurant in Florence. (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi)

Bartering has existed for centuries as an alternative to money. With the recession being drawn out, it seems that firms are looking for ways to cut costs and adapt to the economic needs of their clients. According to the International Trade Association (IRTA), in 2011, over 400,000 companies worldwide earned nearly $12 billion in bartered assets (an accountant’s nightmare). IRTA also reports that bartering as an alternative to cash is expected to grow between 5 percent and 10 percent annually.

From a marketing perspective, Donella and Frank are on to something! The 4 Ps that make up the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) can sometimes  provide challenges to companies in terms of creative innovation. How many times can you redesign a product to meet your customer’s needs? After the explosion in e-commerce dies down, what other convenient ways can goods and services be distributed to consumers?

What Donella and Frank have done is taken the concept of Price P and expanded it to include method of payment rather than just amount. I think that the Faggiolis have also successfully taken value-based marketing to another level by using the bartering offering to promote relationship-building with their customers. While this sort of tactic is easier to apply small-scale in the service industry, such as with restaurants, it would be interesting to see just how much of a comeback bartering can make in our current economic climate.

Click here for the news article about the Faggiolis in the Toronto Sun.