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The emerging Brazilian wine industry: Challenges and prospects for the Serra Gaúcha wine cluster

Jaime Evaldo Fensterseifer (School of Management, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Pôrto Alegre, Brazil)

International Journal of Wine Business Research

ISSN: 1751-1062

Article publication date: 28 August 2007

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Brazilian wine industry's capacity for sustained development in an increasingly internationalized competitive environment. The focus is on the Serra Gaúcha wine cluster, where over 80 per cent of the country's wine is produced.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study is descriptive in nature and makes use of secondary sources, in‐depth interviews and survey‐based data in order to describe the cluster and analyse the different factors associated with sustained competitiveness. The conceptual base that guided the analysis draws on the notion of cluster and its role in the creation of sustainable competitive advantages, with special emphasis on cooperative actions that enhance learning and innovation within the cluster.

Findings

In spite of several weaknesses of the industry and of the challenges posed by an unfavourable international environment, this paper provides both qualitative and quantitative evidences that a series of underlying conditions for the sustainable development of the industry are present in the Serra Gaúcha wine cluster.

Originality/value

The paper is purposefully descriptive and wide in scope as it analyses an as yet little known outside of Brazil and little researched wine cluster; this provides both academic value, as it establishes a basis for the development of more focused research as well as comparative studies with wine clusters from other countries, and practical value for the actors of the cluster, as it highlights important implications for both collective and firm‐level actions.

Keywords

Citation

Evaldo Fensterseifer, J. (2007), "The emerging Brazilian wine industry: Challenges and prospects for the Serra Gaúcha wine cluster", International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 187-206. https://doi.org/10.1108/17511060710817221

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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