How Does the Wine Sector Perform and Communicate Sustainability? The Italian Case

Abstract

The wine sector represents the world-class excellence of Italian agriculture in terms of both quality and quantity and makes an important contribution to the national economy. A number of studies deal with the sustainability of the Italian wine value chain under many specific aspects; however, a general review of the sector’s sustainability performance is not available. Therefore, this study aims to offer an overall evaluation of how the Italian wine industry performs in terms of sustainability and its relevant communication to stakeholders and to identify the most and least frequently recurring sustainability practices. The analysis indicates that the Italian wine sector shows variability in both the approaches to sustainability and the sensitivity of stakeholders to this topic, resulting in the analysed companies’ sustainability performance being dispersed across a broad evaluation range and not depending on the size of the wine producer. Furthermore, materiality analysis, a key methodology in sustainability planning, is adopted by few wine producers, and the sector does not seem to effectively communicate its sustainability efforts (only 43% of the analysed companies have comprehensive communication) to promote consumers’ drinking awareness and to provide information on economic sustainability. On the positive side, 84% of companies have adopted certifications, in particular those relevant to quality and food safety, energy, and water management.