The uncertainties of the global economic and geopolitical landscape, amid climate crises, energy shocks, and inflation, have not dampened the spirit of innovation among Italian winemaking companies. This was revealed in a recent study by Ismea, conducted on a sample of 197 winemaking companies, which highlights that three out of four companies in the sector invested between 2017 and 2021 to renew structures and modernize plants and processes.
An even higher percentage, 78 percent, also expressed their willingness to invest in the next five years, despite the rather critical situation in terms of international relations.
Wine innovation, investments Continue
The investments already made have focused primarily on new technologies, with 38 percent of the sample investing in sensors for monitoring and managing crops and optimizing inputs, as well as on remote or proximity monitoring systems using drones, and on administrative management software to support technical and agronomic activities. Organizational investments, accounting for 18 percent of respondents, mainly involved business network models and research and development plans, while seven percent opted for investments in product and production processes, including the introduction of new soil cultivation, irrigation, fertilization, farm waste management techniques, and new crop varieties.
For the next five years, investments will particularly focus on genetics, with the development of new resistant varieties and techniques of assisted evolution in the field, known as Tea, which the interviewed entrepreneurs consider crucial for the future of viticulture, especially in light of the upcoming new European regulations aimed at reducing the use of agrochemical solutions.
