Wine markets have experienced dramatic evolutions in the past decades. Wine markets like many others have become global and nowadays old world producers (France, Italy, Spain, mostly) have to deal with increased competition from producers coming from all over the world (Australia, South Africa, New-Zealand, United States, Chile, Argentina mostly). One distinguishing feature of this global market is that the smallest family businesses regularly compete with the largest worldwide operating companies in different places (wine stores, restaurants, supermarkets, etc.) around the world.
Recent market evolutions point in the direction of a clear concentration movement leading to an increase of the average size of wineries (Anderson, 2004). We also observe a sort of homogenization of taste, which is commonly believed to be the result of the emergence of super dominant wine experts such as Robert Parker, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, etc. These different evolutions have shaped, as shown by many studies in wine economics and wine business, the success or failure of many family and non-family wine businesses in the recent years.
These observations naturally lead to several questions regarding the future of small wine businesses (SWB) in this new economic environment. How do SWB compete with the largest wineries? Is this business model efficient and sustainable in the long term? How can SWB compete in a world dominated by large wine companies, wholesale merchants, middlemen, wine retailers? What are the necessary market evolutions for SWB to keep competitive in the long run? Will the number of SWB increase or decrease in the coming years? Does the emergence of a "global taste", somehow dictated by a handful of experts, endanger or, on the contrary, favor SWB?
Another noticeable evolution over the last decade is that wine is now considered by many investors as a regular asset used to diversify a risky portfolio. Investments in wine are consistently outperforming traditional investments such as gold and stocks, with high returns alongside relatively low risks. Nowadays, some famous fine wines (including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Italian, California, and Australian wines) but not only these, are frenetically sought just for investment purposes. Indeed investors are now trying to diversify their wine funds further by including some other less famous wines into their wine fund to mitigate the large negative returns recently induced by famous Bordeaux wines. These recent evolutions could benefit some SWB producing high-quality wines perceived as connoisseurs as credible substitutes for the most celebrated first growths.
We welcome a wide range of topics, research methods commonly used in wine business and wine economics research. All questions dealing with industry organization and financial issues, innovation in the context of SWB will be considered.
Recent market evolutions point in the direction of a clear concentration movement leading to an increase of the average size of wineries (Anderson, 2004). We also observe a sort of homogenization of taste, which is commonly believed to be the result of the emergence of super dominant wine experts such as Robert Parker, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, etc. These different evolutions have shaped, as shown by many studies in wine economics and wine business, the success or failure of many family and non-family wine businesses in the recent years.
These observations naturally lead to several questions regarding the future of small wine businesses (SWB) in this new economic environment. How do SWB compete with the largest wineries? Is this business model efficient and sustainable in the long term? How can SWB compete in a world dominated by large wine companies, wholesale merchants, middlemen, wine retailers? What are the necessary market evolutions for SWB to keep competitive in the long run? Will the number of SWB increase or decrease in the coming years? Does the emergence of a "global taste", somehow dictated by a handful of experts, endanger or, on the contrary, favor SWB?
Another noticeable evolution over the last decade is that wine is now considered by many investors as a regular asset used to diversify a risky portfolio. Investments in wine are consistently outperforming traditional investments such as gold and stocks, with high returns alongside relatively low risks. Nowadays, some famous fine wines (including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Italian, California, and Australian wines) but not only these, are frenetically sought just for investment purposes. Indeed investors are now trying to diversify their wine funds further by including some other less famous wines into their wine fund to mitigate the large negative returns recently induced by famous Bordeaux wines. These recent evolutions could benefit some SWB producing high-quality wines perceived as connoisseurs as credible substitutes for the most celebrated first growths.
We welcome a wide range of topics, research methods commonly used in wine business and wine economics research. All questions dealing with industry organization and financial issues, innovation in the context of SWB will be considered.
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 5 January, 2015
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