Is wine perception influenced by sustainability information? Insights from a consumer experiment with fungus resistant grape and organic wines.

Literature has highlighted that the organic attribute has heuristic value for many consumers, representing an overarching signifier of positive characteristics. Nowadays a plethora of alternative systemic approaches side organic production in the aim to improve the overall sustainability of the agrifood sector. Current study, based on blind and informed tasting, measured sustainability information influence on respondents' (n = 162) perceptions of organic and fungus-resistant grape (FRG) white wines. Findings of the within-subject non hypothetical experiment revealed that information has a stronger, positive impact on participants' perception of organic wine (increasing 13 % monetary preferences) compared to FRG wine (+9%). Additionally, attitudinal characteristics driving consumers' preferences towards FRG wine diverge from organic core motivations.

Consumer acceptance of fungus-resistant grape wines: Evidence from Italy, the UK, and the USA.

While there is evidence of consumers' interest in wine sustainability, acceptance of innovations in wine production is not guaranteed. The current study addresses this issue by analyzing consumers' acceptance of fungus-resistant grape (FRG) wines, a sustainable innovation that can substantially reduce the need for chemical inputs in viticulture. To do so, by means of an online survey including large samples of regular wine drinkers in Italy (N = 752), the UK (N = 858) and the USA (N = 856), the study compares individuals' preferences for conventional wines with preferences for FRG wines. The study also explores whether FRG wine acceptance is influenced by informal or formal purchase occasion, by different types of information regarding the product, and by individual attitudinal characteristics. The findings show a general acceptance of FRG wines among consumers. In particular, consumers' preferences for FRG wines on formal occasions are not significantly different from their preferences for conventional wine, whereas on informal occasions, consumers prefer FRG wines over conventional wines. Regarding the impact of information on participant choice, participants informed about the potential effects of FRG on sensory wine characteristics had lower preferences for FRG wines than those who read an information script regarding crop biodiversity. Last, individuals' sustainability concerns and food technology neophobia had positive and negative influences on FRG acceptance, respectively. Overall, this research provides wineries, nurseries and policy-makers with important insights concerning the market potential of FRG wines in three key markets.

EU wine policy in the framework of the CAP: post-2020 challenges.

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and with it the EU wine policy, is experiencing a reform process, started in 2018, in order to address ambitious environmental and social objectives, in conjunction with the goal of a competitive agricultural sector. Given the role of the EU in wine supply, the aim of this paper is to present the design, the rationale and the potential effect of the proposed reform with specific reference to wine sector. To better understand the forthcoming process, it is firstly presented how CAP and its wine policy evolved in terms of objectives and tools over time. The EU wine policy is a paradigmatic example of a combination between the horizontal measures, valid for all agricultural sectors, and vertical measures, peculiarly encompassing the whole wine supply chain. The reform proposal confirms, with some interesting modifications, the set of tools already operating in the sector; however, it calls for a planning of the implementation of the available tools for all products in a unitary frame represented by a national CAP Strategic Plan, applying a lean administrative procedure. In the hypothesis that the COVID-19 outbreak will not cause a radical change in the global agri-food system, the proposed planning process should stimulate shared strategies. These are intended to effectively coordinate, according to the principle of complementarity, the implementation of available policy tools, in order to obtain a better use of resources and a more balanced achievement of all policy objectives.

Do Consumers Want More Nutritional and Health Information on Wine Labels? Insights from the EU and USA.

The global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol launched in 2010 by the World Health Organization includes, amongst several areas of recommended actions, providing consumer information about, and labelling, alcoholic beverages to indicate alcohol-related harm. Labelling requirements worldwide for alcoholic drinks are currently quite diverse and somewhat limited compared to labelling on food products and on tobacco. In this context, the current paper contributes to the academic and political debate on the inclusion of nutritional and health information on wine labelling, providing some insights into consumer interest in, and preferences for, such information in four core wine-producing and -consuming countries: Italy, France, Spain, and the United States of America. A rating-based conjoint analysis was performed in order to ascertain consumer preferences for different formats of additional information on wine labels, and a segmentation of the sample was performed to determine the existence of homogeneous groups of consumers in relation to the degrees of usefulness attached to the nutritional and health information on wine labels. Our results highlight the interest expressed by European and United States consumers for introducing nutrition and health information on wine labels. However, the results of conjoint analysis show some significant differences among stated preferences of the information delivery modes in different countries. In addition, segmentation analysis reveal the existence of significant differences between consumer groups with respect to their interest in receiving additional information on wine labels. These differences are not only linked to the geographic origin of the consumers, or to socio-demographic variables, but are also related to wine consumption habits, attitudes towards nutritional information, and the degree of involvement with wine. This heterogeneity of consumer preferences indicates a need for a careful consideration of wine labelling regulations and merits further investigation in order to identify labelling guidelines in terms of the message content and presentation method to be used.

Wineries Evaluation of Costs and Benefits of Sustainability Certification Program: The Case of Terra Vitis in France.

BACKGROUND: The current paper analyses the evaluation of the costs and benefits of French wineries (N=69) participating in the sustainability program Terra Vitis, a widespread environmental certification scheme within the French wine industry. METHOD: An online questionnaire was sent to all Terra Vitis participants, in order to analyse the evaluation of economic costs and benefits (together with environmental benefits) as perceived by wineries. RESULTS: Our findings reveal that older participants in the scheme (over 5 years), firms with higher export share (>40% of annual turnover) and cooperative wineries tend to be keener to assign a positive evaluation to the benefits/costs ratio in both the vineyard and the winery. CONCLUSION: In the context of increasing concerns regarding the economic and environmental performance of the French agricultural sector, such findings and also the patent research could be useful for policy makers and entrepreneurs in defining mainstream normative and corporate strategies.

More crop for drop - climate change and wine: an economic evaluation of a new drought-resistant rootstock.

The current paper presents the results of an economic evaluation of a new drought-resistant rootstock (M4), capable to maintain in adverse environmental conditions high photosynthetic activity, to accumulate osmotic compounds and to compensate for the accumulation of sodium and chlorine in the grapevines, in two core Italian grapevine growing areas: the North-East and Sicily. After collecting data on quantitative (yield per plant in kg) and qualitative parameters (°Brix, anthocyanins, pH) of experimental vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon variety) planted using the traditional rootstock 1103P and the innovative M4 rootstock, over a seven-year period, a cost-benefit analysis calculated the effects of replacing the traditional rootstock. The results show that M4 rootstock yields higher net revenues compared to the best situation of 1103P rootstock, roughly in 40% of North-East vineyards and in more than 80% of their Sicilian counterparts. In addition, 14% of North-East vineyards and more than 94% of Sicilian vineyards are currently exposed to drought risk, and these areas are expected to increase in the coming years. Thus the M4 rootstock, as other related innovations [51-53], could significantly improve watersaving strategies, which are gaining increasing attention from both public bodies and wine companies.