Evolution of the concept of performance in the wine industry: a literature review

Abstract

For several years, the wine industry has experienced structural changes, primarily due to the international context. Now, it has to face the challenge of sustainable development. Since the wine industry constitutes a significant asset in many countries, this paper addresses the issue of wine firms' performance by attempting to define how it is analysed in the literature in order to determine whether it succeeds in facing and addressing this current question. In this aim, we propose a systematic literature review on 'performance * wine' in the abundant scientific literature from 1975 to 2012. It demonstrates the substantial interest in this concept but also underlines the various meanings of performance according to the dimensions, indicators and players considered. The central finding of this paper is that both theoretical and empirical works fail to cover the sustainable issues faced by this industry, especially concerning the social and territorial dimension. Consequently, the paper identifies research gaps that must be filled to better understand and improve wine firms' global performance.