Interactions and information exchanges among actors within the Provence wine territory: an approach using the dynamic of proximity

With a turnover of around one billion euro (CIVP, 2010), the Provence wine industry represents an important driver of the regional economy. Because of its leadership position in the production of rose wines, it is one of the rare wine-producing regions not to suffer from, what is qualified as crisis in other vineyards. Indeed, the international rose market is constantly growing and represents an important part of the wine in the world, in terms of production, consumption (with 9 % of the volumes of wine consumed in the world in 2006) and of economic exchanges (Flanzy, C. and al, 2009). However, beyond this favorable economical context for the Provence region, the structural situation of the international wine sector has changed over the last decades. Indeed, numerous actors participating in wine production, transformation and marketing adapted their strategic model (Flanzy, C. and al, 2009; Couderc and al., 2007). In general, the wine sector is completely changing (Hannin and al, 2010). Companies have to take into account not only the emergence of mass marketing and changes in consumption practices but also the important competitive density and the strict legislation, which differs from one country to another, when producing and selling their wines. Other constraints, more local can be added, such as difficulties of settling down and transmission, land pressure or soils constraints, controls imposed by appellation of certified origin. Accordingly, the economic actors of the Provence wine industry try hard to develop a more attentive listening of the changing environment for, at the same time, to understand and to anticipate strategic issues they are facing or will be facing in the coming future. Our study concerns, in particular, actors from the upstream of the Provence wine industry, the wineries (also called individual cellar) which produce, transform and market their own wine. These domains evolve within a local sector, strongly organized around the concept of "wine terroir" and which is composed of various regional entities called Professional organisms (OP). Wine councils (AOP: appellation of certified origin and IGP: protected geographic indication), labor unions appellations, federations of independent wine growers and cooperative cellars, associations of "wine terroir" and public administrations, etc are brought to exchange economical and declarative information, knowledge, know-how and innovations, but also to communicate information to their members.