by Maddalena Baldini

Specialised in commercial trading and distributor of major brands, Italian and European, in the promotional sector, Promotred is a concrete example of how, even in a complex moment like the current one, you should always find the right way to restart. For this reason, it has set up activities aimed at supporting customers, proposing an external purchasing office specialised in gadgets and merchandising and participating in the special edition of PTE, the Italian trade fair that represents an important moment for all companies in the sector. Luca Ossola, Chief Executive of Promotred, talks about it.

What are the company's strengths and which market segment is Promotred targeting?

"We don't want to be mere cataloguers, we focus on branded Italian products with an excellent quality-price ratio and a high perceived value also by retail. To get out of this crisis brought on by Covid, we are focusing on several fronts, first and foremost on green objects, also with exclusive agreements or our own in-house production, above all directed towards recycled, sustainable materials and 'secondary materials', i.e. manufacturing waste that can be recovered and re-used".

Getting into the specifics of sustainable items, what are the most popular ones?

"Certainly the writing sector is having a good response, always talking about objects made with recycled or organic materials. There is also the novelty of the material obtained from red algae, the weed, just to make it clear, treated and 'mixed' with a specific resin and then combined with a percentage of PLA. The result is a pen made with 80% PLA and 20% red algae material. There is also a great demand for seedpapers, terracotta pots and personalised ceramic pots, all made in Netherlands, alongside a smaller, artisanal production made in Italy".

At PTE, are there any news and items that Promotred will be focusing on in particular?

"We want to introduce InEstasy's room speakers, also in the run-up to Christmas. It is a retail brand already known for its refillable perfumes, which are also well in line with sustainability. At the same time, we would also like to showcase Corthogreen products and present other new ideas that we are working on. There will also be desk calendars made with Dutch paper and made in Italy production: in this case, by tearing the sheets month by month, there will be the opportunity to have seed paper with an incredible choice of seeds, an excellent and original vehicle for all types of corporate communication".

How has the promotional market evolved in recent years?

"The transformations have been so many, in some cases even sudden, without considering what happened with the arrival of the pandemic. Starting from this last aspect, I can say that the Italian market is increasingly oriented towards the 'green and sustainable world', a concept that in other countries, such as Northern Europe, was already present for some time and that in Italy was still struggling to take off. But one thing is clear: when we talk about sustainable objects, we have to make sure that they are really and 100% sustainable. This implies different value for money for European items that have a higher sustainable component than those imported from Asia”.

Are there any plans for the future?

"For the writing sector, we will continue to focus on items made from recycled, eco-friendly materials and innovative writing solutions. The concept of 'reuse and green' will follow, equally, the other Promotred objects, maybe even addressing more and more on secondary waste materials, until you get the Remade in Italy".