Italian viticulture between tradition and innovation: a survey on the business decisions of wineries of Basilicata

Most of the Italian economy has been experiencing, since late last year, an economic recession. The only exception to this scenario is that represented by those industries for which the characteristic feature of made in Italy is recognized by the market as a value. In addition to some manufacturing sectors, the agrofood industry is showing a dynamic against the negative trend. In 2011, respect to the previous year, the turnover of the Italian wine sector has increased by 9,2% (Mediobanca, 2012); while the export value increased of 11,5% compared to 2010. About volumes of wine selled, in 2011, Italy continues to maintain the leading position worldwide with 23.8 million hectoliters (+10%). The forecast about the vintage 2012 indicates a decline in volumes of about 9%, partly caused by the bad year, while exports grew by about 7% compared to 2011. The data show a sector with a positive balance but the italian wineries have to take in account the changes in progress to define future strategies: the rising costs of non-renewable resources; the relationship between exchange rates; the new emerging countries (such example, Eastern European countries); new consumers (the Y generation, Asian consumers etc.); substitutive products (beers, wines with a lower alcohol content, dealcholized beverages etc.), the basic equilibrium between demand and supply of wine in the worldwide scenario (Oiv, 2012). In the last years, the Italian wine has been able to maintain and to strengthen its position on the international markets, that’s depends not only by the successful performance of the northern and central regions, historically suited, but also by an increase in both quality and quantity produced in the South and therefore also with the contribution of Basilicata. The wine sector in Basilicata, although quantitatively limited compared to the national production, at the regional level represents a driving force towards other agricultural productions, also thanks to the growing acknowledgment received at national and international level, in particular by the wine Aglianico. In fact, the vintage 2011 was the first one for the denomination “Aglianico Docg Superior”, that’s has allowed the flagship wine of Basilicata to enter in the circuit of prestigious Italian wines as Barolo and Chianti. The aim of this paper is to analyze, through an empirical survey carried out through a questionnaire to a sample of wineries in Basilicata, the business strategies of the past five years and their evolutionary dynamics in the context of this difficult economic environment. Innovate and differentiate are the strategies that more than others allow wineries to compete in a context of tremendous global economic crisis, uncertainty and markets instability. The combination of tradition and innovation is the winning strategy to address the change in the Italian wine industry. The tradition is tied to the value and image of made in Italy, from which the consumer expects a high level of quality and a high service content. Even if some data show that for small firms, the cost containment is still the only viable opportunity, tying the company strategies to a time horizon is often the short term, underestimating unconventional marketing initiatives (such as web marketing) and working, mostly, through conventional channels.