Wine cooperatives performance determinants : a comparative analysis between Italy and France

It is quite difficult to highlight the importance of cooperatives as it is difficult to imagine their future, but if we take into consideration for example the wine sector in Italy and in France, we are forced to notice that the cooperative lobby is responsible for more than 50% of the production in both countries. The objective of this paper is to describe what is determining the huge performances differences between healthy cooperatives and cooperatives with some pathological problems. Is it depending on their size? On the way they are managed or their nationality? On how or whether they innovate or not? Is it depending on other factors? We have been interviewing 25 wine cooperatives on their organisation and management in Italy (specifically in Umbria, a region in the centre of Italy), and in France (in particular in the Languedoc-Roussillon, a region in southern France) . The collected data have been processed through a multivariate analysis (using SPSS.15 software) to find links between organizational and structural variables, management approaches and performance indicators. Our results show that the main discriminating factor within both French and Italian cooperatives is the commercial strategy: either they traditionally sell in bulk and seem to face difficulties, or they sell consumer packaged wine (bottles, bag in box), become market oriented and can hope for better performances. Some questions, however, remain: is there such a dichotomy in between ‘product’ and ‘market oriented’ cooperatives, or does it exist an expanding continuum from un-differentiated bulk, specialised bulk, under contract specifications supply of bulk or packaged wine (Buyer’s Own Brand), packaged wine under a private brand? Is this path useful to develop more added value at production level systematically leading to better cooperatives performances, and for whom