Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    Creating the Market for Organic Wine: Sulfites, Certification, and Green Values
    04 Jan 2018Working Paper Summaries

    Creating the Market for Organic Wine: Sulfites, Certification, and Green Values

    by Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean
    Certified organic wine remains a tiny percentage of the global wine market. This paper provides a case study of failed new category creation, analyzing the challenges for the organic wine market over time, including overcoming an initial reputation for quality, wines being labeled with multiple names (“organic,” “biodynamic,” “natural”), and competing certification schemes.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    This working paper examines the history of organic wine, which provides a case study of failed category creation. The modern organic wine industry emerged during the 1970s in the United States and Western Europe, but it struggled to gain traction compared to other organic food and drink products, including organic tea. Early experiments performed by less-savvy winemakers created a negative reputation for organic wine, which proved a challenge to overcome. Early organic winemakers were often derided for their efforts, as conventional winemakers felt threatened by their claims to be more “natural” or healthy than conventional wines. Making matters more difficult, organic winemaking required a sophisticated understanding of complex environmental and chemical processes in the vineyard and winery, yet organic wines typically did not command a premium in the marketplace despite often higher costs of production. The development of organic wine in countries with different winemaking traditions also resulted in little common agreement regarding the definition of “organic” wine. After heated debate regarding the use of sulfites, differing organic wine standards emerged. In the United States organic certification schemes excluded the use of sulfites, while in Europe some use was permitted. For winemakers, distributors and retailers, navigating the complex layers of regulations regarding organic wine proved highly time intensive. Many winemakers chose to forego organic certification so as to avoid the perceived financial and time costs. Organic wine finally attained niche popularity in the 2010s, mainly in northwest Europe and in cosmopolitan global cities elsewhere. Yet organic wine remained a tiny percentage of the world wine market. There remained huge differences between countries in per capita consumption of organic wine. The overall market for organic wine remained far larger in Sweden, a country with 9 million inhabitants, than in the United States, with 326 million.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: December 2017
    • HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #18-048
    • Faculty Unit(s): General Management
      Trending
        • 31 Jan 2023
        • Op-Ed

        Can Insurance Technology Solve the Uninsured Driver Problem?

        • 28 Feb 2018
        • Sharpening Your Skills

        Master the Team Meeting

        • 17 Jan 2023
        • In Practice

        8 Trends to Watch in 2023

        • 27 Jan 2023
        • Op-Ed

        Have We Lost Sight of Integrity?

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

    Geoffrey G. Jones
    Geoffrey G. Jones
    Isidor Straus Professor of Business History
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Failure
    • Food and Beverage

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College