Co-Operatives

Question 1

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What are co-ops?

Answer 1

-owned by group of growers and produce and sell wines made from grapes grown by their members

Question 2

What are the benefits of co-ops?

Answer 2

-pool financial resources- can afford more expensive wm equipment and expertise that couldn’t afford if individual
-access to expert viticultural and wm services and advice
-marketing, packaging and sales services
-more efficient and effective collectively than working on their own- eg Plaimont in SW France

Question 3

What else can coops large vols produce?

Answer 3

-large vols of entry level wine= own-label wines eg La Chablisienne in Chablis

Question 4

What are the disads for coops?

Answer 4

-owned by members, have to work democratically
-must consult members before major decisions made
=decision making slow and cumbersome
=everyone might not always agree

Question 5

How are coops paid?

Answer 5

-members usually paid share of annual profit
-traditional coops- paid on volume
-model still important in Spain and Italy- where vy sizes v small, and not economic for grower to produce and market their own wine- but some not quality focused and may struggle to survive
-Now, many coops quality focused and pay growers on quality of fruit
-don’t pay all profits back to members- invest in latest technology, research, and effective marketing and labelling
=dynamic, produce good quality at excellent value

Question 6

Explain benefits of larger coops

Answer 6

-range of size of coops- small/large
-larger= benefit and compete from economies of scale
-reduction in production cost due to marketing and selling goods in large quantities
-eg reduce cost by bulk buying materials required