Wine Cluster in Bulgaria – Opportunities and Perspectives

The restructuring of the global wine market and the change in consumer tastes and prefer­ences necessitate the formation of new ways of adapting to the changes of the environment and the competitive positioning of Bulgarian wine producers, which are predominantly micro, small and medium enterprises. There is the es­tablishment of a new type of interrelations and relationships in which competitors compete and combine their competitive advantages in order to achieve a synergy effect from their joint activ­ities and to increase their competitiveness. The application of such practices demonstrates the presence of integration processes in the sector and is compatible with the objectives set in the National Strategy for the Development of Viti­culture and Wine Production in the Republic of Bulgaria 2005-2025 (for the realization of Bul­garian wines on domestic and foreign markets). In this regard, the concept of wine clusters is gaining more and more supporters; the purpose of this study is to reveal the efficiency of the integration processes in the sector as an oppor­tunity to exploit its competitive potential and a prerequisite for the construction and functioning of wine clusters.