Analysis of environmental management systems in New Zealand wineries

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of formal environmental management systems (EMSs) in wineries. It reports on the implementation of EMSs amongst New Zealand wineries and explores whether environmental, social, economic and marketing benefits can be gained through the implementation of one or more EMSs.

Design/methodology/approach

Wineries which had implemented the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) programme were surveyed in order to evaluate their environmental performance and the benefits they received from implementing the SWNZ programme and any additional EMSs.

Findings

This study found that New Zealand wineries experienced improved environmental performance when implementing an EMS but disappointingly achieved few social, economic or marketing benefits. Further, almost half of the SWNZ programme wineries surveyed had also implemented additional EMSs, suggesting that wineries find the SWNZ programme is not sufficiently effective in meeting their environmental needs. Supporting this, the findings suggest that wineries with multiple EMSs have better environmental performance than those with a single EMS.

Practical implications

This paper suggests that NZ winegrowers need to make some improvements or additions to their SWNZ programme in order for it to more fully deliver benefits for wineries and reduce the need for implementation of additional EMSs.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to examine the environmental, social, economic and marketing benefits arising from implementation of one or more EMSs in wineries.