If you cannot remember the last time you had a glass of organic wine, you are hardly alone. Overall, less than 5% of the world’s vineyards are organic. In the United States, the world’s largest consumer of wine, only 1% of wine sold by volume was organic. The paltry market for organic wine around the world belies the fact that over the past half century, countless organic winegrowers and vintners have dedicated great effort to creating a larger market for the category, without much success. Meanwhile, plenty of other organic products, including vegetables, milk, and tea, have become widely consumed, at least by affluent, health-conscious city dwellers. Why the difference?
How Organic Wine Finally Caught On
If you can’t remember the last time you had a glass of organic wine, you are hardly alone. Worldwide, less than 5% of vineyards are organic, and in the U.S., the world’s largest consumer of wine, organic wine accounts for less than 1% of sales by volume. But plenty of other organic products, including vegetables, milk, and tea, have become widely consumed. Why the difference? A look at the history of this failure in category creation shows that early stumbles in the organic wine market created marketing problems that the industry still struggles to overcome. However, the recent success of a related category — biodynamic wines — shows a possible way forward. The case of organic wine provides important lessons of what to avoid when starting down this path. One is that it is important to achieve quality early on, as negative reputations linger. A second lesson is to do everything possible to avoid multiple, conflicting standards. And third, consumers might want to help the environment, but they will not sacrifice quality to support the cause.