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Aim of study: To analyze the compatibility of sustainability with the business growth of wineries in Spain. Area of study: The data used come from a survey conducted in the years 202 and 2021, which was addressed to the all wineries located in Spain. Material and methods: The economic growth of wineries is conditioned by different factors; in this work we have analyzed the orientation towards sustainability, business resources and capabilities (marketing, innovation, marketing, human resources, network resources, management resources and financial resources), profitability and exports. The empirical analysis was carried out by studying the responses received after a first mail sent to all independent wineries, with a subsequent telephone call. The number of responses, 411, represents 14% of the population. Using the regression model, estimated by OLS with Robust Errors proposed by Eiker-White, the factors determining the economic growth of the wineries were analyzed. The analysis done was exploratory. Main results: The results show that the factors that most favor the growth of Spanish wine companies are management capabilities, sustainability orientation and financial resources. Research highlights: Two relevant factors for growth are management capabilities and sustainability orientation. This reaffirms the compatibility of opting for sustainability and business growth in the case of Spanish wineries. And it allows to give arguments to the positive discourse between growth and sustainability of economic activities.

The fight against climate change has become a basic vector for agri-food business strategies. In Spain, commercial wineries (Investor Owner Firms, IOFs) and cooperatives are facing major challenges in adapting to the most stringent environmental requirements and in becoming sustainable and environmentally responsible companies. The European winemaking model, unlike its “new world” competitors, has a very distinct configuration with the predominance of the social economy in parallel with capitalist enterprises. However, these two forms of business organization are different in terms of objectives, position in the value chain, type of organization and form of management. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether these two types of companies have a different orientation towards sustainability, and which are the drivers that facilitate a greater approach to sustainability in each group. With a sample of 411 wineries, the results of the study show a lower orientation towards sustainability among the cooperatives, without a relevant alignment of their resources towards this objective. However, IOFs orient their resources towards sustainability in a consistent and strategic way. This may infer that the European model, with a clear advantage in the social component, could be somewhat more limited in the environmental aspect.

The objective of this study is to determine the factors that explain the orientation, of the wine industry and at firm level in Portugal and Spain for adopting policies to improve sustainability, identifying similarities and differences between the two countries. The study focuses on two countries that account for a relevant part of the global vineyard surface area, wine production and wine exports. The database for the empirical analysis has been constructed through a survey conducted among wineries of the two countries during 2020 and 2021, for which a total of 568 valid responses were obtained, 151 in Portugal and 417 in España. From the quantitative analysis, based Box-Cox left-hand-side models, one for each country, it can be concluded that those wineries that invest the most in their growth, anticipate future challenges and interact with interest groups are more inclined towards adopting sustainability measures. The study also reveals notable differences between the two countries as the determinants that drive sustainability, finding that sustainability policies are not unit and specific common vectors.

This paper examines how participating in domestic clustered networks in the agri-food industry affects the export status and export intensity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Uppsala internationalization process model has been revisited in light of the knowledge that these networks can contribute to promoting the presence of SMEs abroad. The study uses a sample of companies in the Spanish wine industry and characterizes 76 domestic clustered business networks (Protected Designations of Origin). The value and originality of the paper reside in its contribution in terms of measuring the degree of internationalization of domestic clustered networks to which SMEs belong. It also assesses the effect of these networks on the internationalization process of the agri-food industry, considering that domestic clustered networks with a strong international commitment generate greater internationalization opportunitieS.

This study introduced the application of a new methodology to the assessment of sustainability for wineries in Spain. It adapted Rosen’s hedonic models, developed in other areas of the economy, to explain the environmental commitment of wineries in terms of trends in their attributes, considering: a) resources and capabilities; b) development variables; c) commercial factors. The database for the empirical analysis was drawn up from two surveys; the first was performed in 2016, and the second occurred between 2020 and 2021. Using the Box-Cox technique, the results showed that improving the companies' attributes, especially in human resources and management, exports and distribution via Horeca, promotes a greater valorization of sustainability by the wineries.