Bottega delle Erbe Chiare is a Bologna tea maker blending herbal infusions and packing them in small batches. Founder Giulia Rinaldi joined the Buy Small pledge to direct more purchasing toward independent growers and neighborhood suppliers rather than defaulting to larger distributors. The team mapped its annual spending on herbs, labels, tins, and courier services, then set a target for at least one in every five supplier euros to go to independent businesses. It now asks local growers to quote for seasonal ingredients and groups orders where that helps keep transport practical. The approach has brought three new small suppliers into its regular rotation, including a family herb farm outside the city. In the first six months, 23 percent of supplier spending—€18,400—went to independent businesses, exceeding the pledge’s one-in-five benchmark. Giulia says the change was not about choosing a local supplier at any cost; it was about making independent options visible and giving them a fair chance to compete on quality, reliability, and price.
