Wineries' perception of sustainability costs and benefits: An exploratory study in California

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.