Wineries’ Perception of Sustainability Costs and Benefits: An Exploratory Study in California

Eugenio Pomarici,Angela Mariani,Riccardo Vecchio

doi:10.3390/su71215806

Abstract

The present study aims to make a contribution to the analysis of costs and benefits of adopting sustainable practices. The paper reports the results of an exploratory study into wineries’ perceived mix of economic costs and benefits and environmental benefits provided by participating in the Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing scheme. A total of 14 wineries, representing more than 50% of the entire wine production of California certified wine (and 25% of all certified wineries), participated in the study. Based on the information detected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with winery managers and owners, performing a descriptive analysis and a logit model, we reveal that overall economic benefits, resulting from the sustainable practices introduced by the certification scheme, outweigh the additional costs. In particular, older wineries (>15 years) and those located in Sonoma Valley or onmultiple sites are more keen to assign a positive economic viability tosustainable practices. Furthermore, sustainable vineyard practices are highly rated by respondents in terms of both perceived environmental and economic benefits. Outcomes should foster similar studies exploring other specific sustainability programs and certification schemes, and eventually encourage cross-cultural investigations.

Highlights

Sustainability is generally referred to as the triple bottom line as it involves the integration of environmental and social responsibilities with economic goals to create value for a company as well as for society [1]
It is worth making a reference to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) definition, as an international framework
The key idea is that the above-mentioned triple bottom line should be promoted through the implementation of appropriate environmental sustainability programs, and applied to production, transformation, warehousing, and packaging

Summary

Introduction

Sustainability is generally referred to as the triple bottom line as it involves the integration of environmental and social responsibilities with economic goals to create value for a company as well as for society [1]. The winegrowing sector has a long history of commitment to promoting a more sustainable development and several initiatives are underway worldwide. The key idea is that the above-mentioned triple bottom line should be promoted through the implementation of appropriate environmental sustainability programs, and applied to production, transformation, warehousing, and packaging. Many different sustainable winegrowing programs, developed through collaborative efforts driven by national institutions and associations, arecurrently underway in so-called New World wine-producing countries (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, and recently Chile). Whereas the initiatives carried out in the core European producing countries, on the other hand, primarily concern single winegrowing areas or limited groups of winegrowers [3,4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion