From innovation to eco-innovation: an application to the Spanish wine sector

Abstract

The concern to care and respect the environment is something that is increasing in recent times. We can see that in almost all areas there is already an awareness of respect for our planet. Companies, public institutions and even within homes already have certain rules on how to protect the environment. Focusing on the business world, the concern to be sustainable has already been present for some time, offering companies and entrepreneurs a new sustainable business vision that translates into the creation of a new model of business management, Corporate Social Responsibility (RSC). This concern to preserve the environment can become a competitive advantage for existing companies and, in addition, offer business opportunities for entrepreneurs. This is because the creation of a sustainable environment has become a necessity for society and companies that manage to meet this need will have greater social acceptance and positive economic and environmental results In this context, entities must be aware to be able to achieve the change from "normal" company to sustainable company. This change is achieved with eco-innovation. Innovations with specific characteristics centered on the care of the environment but without forgetting the own business objectives. Currently there is a latent need in companies to create a plan for the development of eco-innovation, as the objective of this is to incorporate improvements in the entity that can increase economic and environmental benefits. At the moment this environmental innovation is present in almost all the sectors but in some of them, as in the more traditional ones, to a lesser extent than in other more technological ones. Starting from this idea, we can see that innovations and sustainable management in some moments go in parallel ways and it would be important to unite them to obtain new results that adapt to the change of mentality of the society. So eco-innovation can be the factor that unites sustainability with innovation. In addition, we also consider that there is a "gap" in research that links the terms eco-innovation with its application to traditional sectors, mainly because these sectors are the most reluctant to change and to implement new innovations. Faced with this reality and based on an analysis of innovation and its relationship with the environment, and its subsequent impact on business results, for the realization of this work we choose a traditional sector of great importance in the Spanish and Valencian economy, Wine sector. Thus, the objective of our work is to apply concepts as novel as eco-innovation in a traditional sector such as wine. The work will be divided into three main parts: in the first part it will develop the whole theoretical framework of work where we will delve into three concepts: the environment, innovation and eco-innovation. In the second part of the work an analysis, both internal and external, of the wine sector will be carried out. Finally, the reasons why the sector studied needs to apply eco-innovation and what eco-innovations it could implement to improve its results. Finally a summary will be made where the conclusions obtained will appear and, in addition, the possible future lines of research related to the concept of eco-innovation will be exposed.