Abstract
The Italian wine supply chain has performed well in recent decades both in terms of profitability and success on the domestic and international markets. This is despite the fact that it is fragmented in terms of products, prices and consumption context, and, in particular, despite the fact that it is characterised by an organisation that hinders the full exploitation of economies of scale. This paradox has not been investigated in literature. We propose several elements in support of the hypothesis that the Italian wine sector’s success is linked to favourable elements of the Porter Diamond Model (5 out of 6) but also to the “district” nature of a large part of the sector. The presence of numerous networks, some of which are formal and others informal, gives most Italian local production systems specialising in grapes and wine the characteristics of industrial districts, due to the local social capital that is stratified there. These networks include operators such as Cooperatives and Consorzi di Tutela, upstream and downstream industries and services, tourism, research and educational bodies. Such networks can overcome the weakness represented by the low concentration and small average size of the operators. To support this hypothesis, we analyse the historical evolution of the sector and its drivers, the structural features of the different phases of the wine chain (grape growing, winemaking, bottling and distribution), the market relationships within the chain and the national and European policies favouring the sector. This analysis also underlines the differences between the Italian sector and its competitors from the Old and New World.
Highlights
Wine is one of Italian agriculture’s most traditional products and one of the most characterising and constant elements of the diet of the Italian population
It was from this position that the Italian wine sector encountered the globalisation wave, which began after World War II but has accelerated since 1990, with an unprecedented expansion of international wine trade, “which it did so spectacularly, albeit unevenly, and which led to the democratisation of wine consumption in many more countries” (Anderson and Pinilla 2018, p. 6)
This represented a window of opportunity that New World (NW) wine producers were more ready to exploit, implementing a catch-up process that allowed them spectacularly to increase their hold over the international wine market (Giuliani et al 2011; Mariani et al 2012)
Summary
Wine is one of Italian agriculture’s most traditional products and one of the most characterising and constant elements of the diet of the Italian population. After the Golden Age of Falerno in Roman times, viticulture and wine production returned to the fore in the tenth-century and continued to remain so over later centuries, with most of the cultivation devoted to poor wines for popular consumption and only a small part to the production of fine wines, intended mainly for local aristocracy and ecclesiastical hierarchies It was from this position that the Italian wine sector encountered the globalisation wave, which began after World War II but has accelerated since 1990, with an unprecedented expansion of international wine trade, “which it did so spectacularly, albeit unevenly, and which led to the democratisation of wine consumption in many more countries” The last section summarises the most important elements proposed and highlights the major challenges that the sector must face due to endogenous and exogenous changes, which could, in future, weaken the overall competitive performance and profitability of Italian wine production
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
