The economic globalisation has opened new pathways for commerce and triggered a logistical revolution, which in turn has produced enormous technological innovations. In this context, the role of startups is becoming increasingly crucial since they are positioning themselves as innovation enablers among large and small companies. Between these innovations, IoT, Big Data Analytics and Blockchain can be used in various domains, among which the logistics of the whole wine supply chain. Here we will consider some of the issues and needs that arise in this market sector, showing how Wenda – a startup born in Bologna in February 2015 that works to improve sustainability and traceability in Food & Beverage supply chains – has been able to leverage IoT, Big Data Analytics and Blockchain to empower the wine supply chain with solutions that enable wine traceability throughout the distribution and the after-buying-in preservation and commercialisation phases.
Quantifying and mapping the relevant landscape attributes of winescape is difficult due to both the complex identity characterization of the places and the multidimensionality of the pursued perceptive experience on the emotional level. Although the quality of the rural landscape is recognized as an essential element of winescape, in the literature there are no methodological and applicative studies on the identification of the most significant characteristics of a wine region that are fundamental attributes in the preferences of visitors. The aim of the work is to propose a methodology to link the environmental and cultural landscape characteristics of the territory with the concept of winescape to improve the image of wine tourism adopting a systematic approach for territorial branding starting from the analysis of the visitors’ preferences. The analysis is conducted through the geographical information data shared on the social media Flickr. Different methods of analysis are applied in an integrated way to:
analyze the demand for winescape in its different dimensions;
identify the territorial variables that are part of the winescape supply;
build a spatial relationship model between winescape demand and supply to quantify the territorial suitability and provide useful information for rural development strategies.
Geographical concentrations of wineries often occur within a region for obvious reasons of terroir. However, localised spatial concentrations of wineries may exist because of other factors. This paper explores whether co-location exists among wineries that have higher wine ratings in the Hunter Valley wine region in New South Wales, Australia. Key conclusions are that clustering of Hunter Valley wineries producing high-quality wines does not exist, the quality rating of a winery is influenced by its terroir, and wine quality among wineries in the region is higher for those producing the territorial brand wine of Semillon. Blending was found to have no impact on the quality of wine produced by a winery.
In recent years consumers’ concerns regarding the environmental impact of food production has significantly increased, also due to food sustainability, food safety and food security issues. A number of certification systems for environmental-friendly products have been created e.g. water-saving labels and fishery sustainable labels. Among various environmental issues, the protection of biodiversity has recently gained popularity both in public opinion and in scientific debate. This paper describes the results of a Choice Experiment on wine consumers to estimate their willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation practices in vineyards. The survey was conducted by direct interviews at a wine tasting event in an Italian winery located at Montefano (Marche). The results show that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for wine certification that takes into account biodiversity not only for medium-high price wines, but also for low-price wines. Finally, quality of wine and organic certification remain important attributes in wine purchasing choices related to expensive wines.
This article explores the hedging potential of two weather index-based insurance programmes designed for the Rias Baixas Protected Designation of Origin (Spain). The first alternative insures both extreme and non-extreme weather events, while the second instrument covers exclusively extreme meteorological states. Two bioclimatic indicators computed for the period most correlated to grape yields are proposed as underlyings: the Branas, Bernon and Levadoux (BBL) and the Ribéreau-Gayon and Peynaud hydrothermal scale (RGP). Yield-weather dependence is then modelled with two different methodological approaches: copulas and linear regression. To asses the risk reducing potential, a hedging effectiveness analysis based on real and simulated data is carried out. The model uses variance and expected shortfall as risk measures. The results attained point out the high hedging ability of both insurance programmes, especially of the first of them based on RGP. This appraisal also reveals that the copula technique outperforms linear regression. Overall, the study results suggest that the implementation of policies geared to bioclimatic indices able to signal adverse weather events can significantly mitigate weather-related yield variations in viticulture.
The growing presence of Sicilian sustainable wine has pushed the research group to investigate and analyse the consumers' behaviour and their potential willingness to pay a premium price for the wine obtained through sustainable production processes. The analysis of the consumer's behaviour towards the wine made with sustainable production methods is carried out in order to provide potentially useful indications to Italian and in particular Sicilian wine enterprises regarding the production and marketing strategies to undertake in a future perspective. This study shows the result of an empirical investigation on the consumption of sustainable wine in Sicily. Through the Ordered (demographic profile, preference and attitudes), which influence the consumers' choices regarding sustainable wine. The assessment, based on the submission of a questionnaire, has highlighted the willingness to pay a premium price on the part of the 546 consumers interviewed. The study points out that the knowledge of sustainable production methods significantly influences the decision to support a premium price for wine consumption. This attests to the fact that a more attentive and informed consumer is ready to pay more for products obtained according to the principles of environmental sustainability.
The purpose of this study is to examine producers' perspectives on the mandatory labelling of nutrition and ingredient information for wine, as suggested by the European Commission. Producers’ expectations about consumer reactions to new label information, the consequences of mandatory labelling on production processes and relative competitive advantages for different producer sizes are assessed.
Data for this survey was collected from producers using the quantitative research method of an online survey. In total, 483 German wine producers, covering a substantial share of the country's wine acreage, took part in the survey, comprising 434 estate wineries, 29 cooperatives and 20 large bottling wineries.
The study concludes that mandatory nutrition labelling will have several effects on the wine industry. Producers' expectations of consumer reactions largely agree with the findings of recent qualitative studies focusing on wine consumers. While nutritional information is unlikely to have an effect on consumer demand, the listing of ingredients is likely to create consumer confusion and uncertainty, weakening wine's image as a natural product. This creates the opportunity for some wineries to focus on clean labelling strategies by completely avoiding additives that require labelling. From a production point of view, mandatory nutrition labelling is likely to increase costs due to changes in oenological practices, the increased need for laboratory analyses and more challenging labelling processes. Large wineries are better informed, and likely to be better equipped, to react to labelling changes.
The degree to which negative effects will be realised will not only depend on legal decisions about the classification of additives versus processing aids, but also on producers' willingness and ability to adapt to the changes mandatory nutrition labelling will impose on the industry. Producers should react proactively and anticipate consumers’ requests for fair and transparent ingredient labelling.