Like other European countries, the Italian Co-operation has played a crucial role in the processes of growth and development of the rural and agro-food economy. In Veneto (North Eastern Italy), during the late nineteenth... [ view full abstract ]
Like other European countries, the Italian Co-operation has played a crucial role in the processes of growth and development of the rural and agro-food economy.
In Veneto (North Eastern Italy), during the late nineteenth century with the spread of co-operative production, there was the creation of the first social dairies and of the first wine co-operatives, which laid the foundation for the emergence of an organizational and operational model apt to promoting the economic development of a wide range of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In the case of Conegliano Valdobbiadene - Prosecco DOCG’s wine co-operatives, this market approach has resulted in the realization, in large part, of the objectives pursued by the co-operative model’s inspiring fathers and promoters, having contributed to raising the poorest rural classes’ living standards and having played a driving role in the rural economy’s recent development.
In this context, this paper sets out to describe the vine-growing co-operative roles, in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene - Prosecco DOCG’s area, in the development of a successful product, considering the latest, dynamic phase (2003-2015) of the Prosecco DOCG’s market.
As a whole, the research, using the data collected from the 85.6% of firms producing Prosecco DOCG, considers comparisons between the wine co-operatives’ model and those of other capitalist businesses’ models: large companies that buy wine and just bottle it; vine-growers who make their own wine and sell it. In this regard, the interpretive approach used takes into account both the model’s structure - conduct - performance as well as the transaction costs’ analysis.
When the results are examined it emerges how the wine co-operatives have reached an advanced organizational structure, able to maintain a favourable position on the DOCG Prosecco market through a progressive, tailor-made, long-term strategy. It consists of three basic steps: first, the pursuit of technical and quality efficiency; second, the increase in the bargaining power from the sale of products processed by themselves; third, the ability to maximize the added value of the raw material, due to the attainment of a high market share sold in bottle. This final stage is accompanied by the strong presence of major market channels in Italy, the development of internationalization and the ability to withstand competition based on price. Therefore, wine co-operatives today represent a reference model that can both sustain competition on the market and face the challenges related to the development of vine-growing regions of Protected Denomination of Origin.
2016_Abstract_ICA_Spain_Final.pdf 