Sustainable practices in the wine sector: firm perspectives and actions

Abstract

Purpose In recent decades, the adoption of sustainability practices in the wine industry has steadily increased. Indeed, sustainability has become an important focus for producers because of growing awareness of the environmental, social and economic impacts on the surrounding ecosystem. However, the literature shows that sustainability is often understood primarily as the preservation of natural resources, and as a result, wineries’ efforts have largely concentrated on environmental dimensions, followed by economic measures, with social practices being addressed more recently but receiving comparatively less attention. This study aims to examine wineries’ views and actions on sustainability, including their perceptions of consumer attention on winery responsibility on sustainability issues and the barriers to sustainability practices adoption. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a self-reported survey of 130 Italian wineries. The questionnaire investigated the adoption of sustainability practices and included open and closed questions on winery details, perceptions of sustainability, barriers and evaluation of consumer opinion. The analysis focuses on the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability. Findings Results indicate that the adoption of sustainability practices is associated with the wineries’ size (number of employees) and the value that companies attribute to the three dimensions of sustainability. Analysis shows that wineries predominantly associate sustainability with environmental aspects. However, although not explicitly linked to sustainability by the wineries, the actions they undertake in the social dimension hold considerable significance. Practical implications These findings highlight the potential benefits of improving wineries’ understanding of the multifaceted nature of sustainability. The perceived barriers (high certification costs, financial burden of personnel and lack of specific skills) show the difficulties wineries face in accessing the support and information needed for a fully integrated approach. These obstacles could be reduced if institutions, industry associations and certification bodies provided simplified, affordable and harmonized certification schemes, alongside training and capacity-building initiatives. At the same time, better communication from wineries to consumers could add value, enhance competitiveness and resilience and increase market opportunities by engaging diverse consumer segments. Originality/value Although previous studies have analyzed different dimensions of sustainability or wineries’ perceptions, the link between what companies believe and the actions they actually take has so far received relatively little attention. The originality of this paper lies in examining wineries’ perceptions not only in terms of what they think about sustainability, but also in relation to what they actually do and what they believe consumers are attentive to. Moreover, a large set of practices enables a more precise analysis of their distribution across environmental, economic and social dimensions, highlighting potential differences. This approach enables the identification of discrepancies, barriers and opportunities, offering a more comprehensive understanding of how wineries translate sustainability concepts into effective operational practices.