Drivers of eco-innovation and conventional innovation in the Canadian wine industry

Abstract

The Canadian wine industry is a small but growing sector of the economy rooted in non-metropolitan areas. Dependent upon local natural resources and climatic conditions and coupled with changes in consumers’ preferences, wineries are pressured to adopt and develop more ecological practices and production processes. It has thus become increasingly important to understand the nature of the capabilities and resources wineries build upon to develop eco-innovations. Based on a survey of 151 wine firms in Canada, this study (i) explores the main drivers of eco-innovation and (ii) analyzes differences between the factors associated with eco-innovation and conventional innovation. The results of our empirical analysis show that both types of innovation are associated with internal factors. This partly reflects specificities of Canada’s wine industry, which is comprised of small firms generally proceeding by internal experimentation, and trial and error. However, eco-innovation in this industry differs from conventional innovation in that it is more closely related to external sources of information, which are generally more technical and related to the environment.