Competitiveness framework to support regional-level decision-making in the wine industry: a systematic literature review

This study aims to identify the main performance indicators and group them in dimensions within a regional competitiveness framework to support decision-making in the wine industry. For this research, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted in the Scopus database. There is a limited number of studies identifying indicators with impact on the performance of wine regions, and even fewer studies including indicators in an integrated approach to measure the different dimensions of wine regions’ performance. From a set of 85 papers, only 9 studies related to performance indicators with a specific focus on the regional level were considered. We document that under a convention framework, economic and territorial indicators cover 84.90% of all SLR indicators analysed, and under a regional competitiveness framework, infrastructure and innovation and intellectual capital indicators fill 81.25% of all the indicators. As this group of indicators is limited to a set of sub-dimensions, we found that several groups of indicators are misrepresented, such as the ones related to human and socio-cultural capital areas, which play a crucial role in the regional competitiveness of the wine industry. This paper contributes to the literature identifying indicators according to convention and regional competitiveness frameworks in three dimensions – economic, environmental and territorial dimensions and five main areas – productive capital, human capital, socio-cultural capital, infrastructure and intellectual capital. These indicators are to be used at regional-level to support decision-making in the wine industry. For regional entities, it discloses the most pertinent indicators which need improvement to craft regional strategies. This framework is of added value for policymakers to customize their support programmes so that specific producers can enhance their competitive strategies. It could also be deployed in teaching programmes as a tool to address the importance of aligning different types of indicators to achieve better performance in the wine industry.

Adaptive market hypothesis: An empirical analysis of the Wine Market

We test the nature of weak form informational efficiency present in the wine market using daily return of LIV-EX 50 index from 1/1/2010 to 12/6/2020. First, we employ a number of statistical tests including variance ratio tests, tests for linear and non-linear dependence and Hurst coefficient. The tests are applied on the full dataset and on four non overlapping sub-samples of equal length. The variance ratio tests provide a mixed regarding informational efficiency. Evidence of non-linear dependence in the return series was found. The Hurst coefficient values confirm the presence of long run persistence in the wine market. Based on the mixed evidence, we test the possibility of adaptive nature of the wine market. We employ the newly proposed Adaptive Index (AI) to quantify the degree of information inefficiency in the wine market at any instance. Our results confirm that wine market is adaptive and periodically shifts between states of efficiency and inefficiency. The wine market is found to be relatively free from the Covid-19 induced shock and the safe haven property of wine is thus confirmed. Finally, impact of various macroeconomic and financial events on wine market efficiency is identified by using AI.

Motivation factors for organic wines. An analysis from the perspective of German producers and retailers

This study investigates the motives for producers that inform decisions to convert or not convert to organic wine production as well as the motives for retailers to offer or not offer organic wine and promotion of organic wine from producers’ and retailers’ perspectives. In total, 100 semi-structured in-depth interviews with 25 different types of retailers, 50 organic wineries and 25 non-organic wineries were conducted and analysed using content analysis and grounded theory. Additionally, the wine offers of 25 stores were analysed to develop an understanding of the distribution and promotion of organic wines. Producers choose to switch or not to switch to organic farming for primarily altruistic reasons. Because organic wine producers do not specifically focus on the organic nature of their wines in their communications, this attribute is typically disregarded by retailers and consumers during their wine-buying decisions, which undermines the growing demand for organic wine. There are significant differences between wine-growing regions in Germany and their vine cultivation conditions due to weather, the steepness of slopes and the attitudes towards converting conventional wine production to organic wine production. Missing knowledge and a low demand for organic wines are barriers for retailers to focus on organic wine. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate organic wines from numerous producers in every wine-growing region in Germany and various retailers in Germany. The focus on communication shows a lack in the knowledge transfer along the value chain of organic wine. Therefore, this study fills a research gap and provides valuable practical insight into the organic market for the wine industry and the scientific community.

Productive efficiency of wine grape producers in the North of Portugal

Portugal is a country traditionally dedicated to viticulture and characterized by the production of wines of high quality. However, although it continues to be a major player in the world, both in the extension of vineyards and in the production of wine, it is certain that in recent years Portugal have lost market share in these areas. In this context, it is interesting to analyze if this situation could be related to the level of productive efficiency of vineyards. Therefore, the aims of this study are to analyse the farms that are efficiently allocating resources to achieve maximum production and to identify characteristics that make the farm more efficient. In addition, we want to analyse the productive efficiency of the farms from a regional perspective. To achieve this purpose, we use a database collected by face-to-face surveys from a sample of 154 wine-growing farms with specific input-output information from 2017. These farms are locating in the three regions of the North of Portugal (Minho, Douro and Trás-os-Montes), which represents more than 40% of the Portuguese vineyard area. To analyse the productive efficiency of the farms, we use the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The results show that the efficiency level in the wine-growing farms from the North of Portugal is arround 67%, but with significant differences at regional level. Many of these discrepancies may be due to structural factors, such as the type of grape produced in each region. In conclusion, the findings make evident that the most efficient farms are not the most profitable due to the structure of the existing value chain.

How do sparkling wine producers adopt a sub-appellation? Evidence from an exploratory study on heroic Prosecco Superiore Rive

This paper investigates why wineries producing Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Protected Denomination of Origin (CVPP) wines decided to adopt the sub-appellation (SA) “Rive” as a way to increase the value of their wines. We estimated both a logistic and a linear regression to explain Rive SA firms’ choices and market growth drivers, respectively. By using data gathered from CVPP producers, we divided wineries into two groups, those that have adopted the Rive SA and those that have not. By means of a stepwise procedure, we categorized factors that were likely to explain the Rive SA choice within a set of structural, marketing and wine tourism-related variables. The results showed that structural drivers such as the human capital of younger producers, pressure tank sizes, competitive positioning in the market and in the field of wine tourism hospitality, and involvement in ad hoc promotional activities (i.e., Primavera del Prosecco) have the greatest effects on the choice of the Rive SA. The synergistic effects of cellar door sales, small firm sizes and specific foreign markets (i.e., the United Kingdom and the United States) have emerged, on the other hand, as vital factors in the growth of the Rive SA in terms of market share. The adoption of the Rive SA may play an important role in supporting and valuing the heroic viticulture-based economy and may help the CVPP Tutelary Consortium to appropriately undertake promotional strategies to differentiate wines and improve competitiveness. This could have positive effects on wine tourism, hospitality and winery visits in light of the recent recognition of the CVPP as the 55th Italian UNESCO World Heritage site.

Wine Ratings and Advertising Strategies: Is There a Link?

Advertising is one of the most widely used marketing resources in the beverage industry, yet the wine industry has not made an intense use of this resource over time. The small average size of wineries together with rising concerns about the effectiveness of advertising has led many wineries to use alternative strategies to market their products: collective brands, the display of prizes and medals on their labels, or positive ratings in expert guides. In this sense, the objective of the present study was to analyse the behaviour of wineries regarding their use of advertising as a marketing resource. Specifically, we analysed the advertising strategy of wineries with respect to the existence of publicly available wine ratings. The method was based on the estimation of a Heckit model that simultaneously identifies the variables underlying the decision to invest in advertising and the determinants of the amount of money invested. The results revealed a nonlinear relationship between wine ratings and advertising investment.

Does belonging to an appellation make a difference?

Assuming that wine markets are efficient, ultimately a bottle of wine’s cost and therefore its price should reflect its vintage, grape variety as well as how it is vinified. Yet, being an experiential good, a wine’s price is also closely related to its place of origin. If the designated viticultural area of wine is coming from is not considered, even in a relatively new wine country, wine makers may end up over-estimating the premium attached to vintage, variety as well as how it is vinified. Regression results indicate that, for Ontario wines, the over-estimations vary between 1% points and 18% points.

Organic and Conventional Grape Growing in Italy: a Technical Efficiency Comparison Using a Parametric Approach

Several studies have focused attention on the differences between organic and conventional farms in terms of efficiency, and controversial findings have resulted from these applications. One source of controversy concerns the assumption about the frontier(s) adopted for the comparison: a common frontier or two separate frontiers for organic and conventional methods? This paper aims to estimate technical efficiency in Italian grape farming. A stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) was applied to a sample of 531 farms (440 conventional and 91 organic farms) collected from the Farm Accountancy Network Database. Among others, a test for evaluating whether a unique or separate frontier was performed. The findings suggest that organic and conventional farms would lie on a common frontier and that organic farms have greater capacity than conventional farms in using their own technical inputs (efficiency amounts to 83.6% and 77.8%, respectively). A number of implications derive from these findings.

Consumer preferences for Certified Wines in France: A Comparison of Sustainable Labels

The wine industry has faced various environmental and social challenges. On the demand side, consumer demand for sustainable wines has been increasing but, to date, it is unknown whether consumers perceive wine companies’ efforts to obtain sustainable development (SD) certifications and labels as being valuable or how they differentiate them. On the supply side, sustainable wine production is increasing but producers report a lack of information to engage and select their SD strategy. This article uses a logistic regression and an artificial neural network model to show how French consumers differentiate and value different SD labels (Organic, Biodynamic, Sustainable, Fairtrade, Natural). Results show that consumers’ willingness to buy and willingness to pay are influenced by the importance each consumer gives to the certification. For all other drivers, consumers differentiate between labels, highlighting the importance of comparison between and knowledge about each of them, thereby aiding producers in choosing an appropriate marketing strategy.

Millennial university students’ valuation of traditional wine: Evidence from an experimental auction

This paper analyzes whether the perception of traditional wine brings value to millennials. Based on survey data and experimental auctions (165 participants), this study identifies the main factors affecting this consumer groups’ willingness to pay for traditional wine through a Tobit model methodology. The results suggest that millennials are willing to pay a higher price depending on demographic factors such as monthly disposable income, on wine involvement variables such as consumption frequency, and on nourishing and health aspects and product availability at points of sale, both of which are wine purchase decision criteria. The investigation has significant marketing and policy implications.