Logistics and innovation strategies of the Burgundy wine industry.

Summary The objective of this paper is to identify the individual and collective strategies in terms of downstream logistics and the innovations implemented by the actors of the Burgundy wine industry to respond to the different challenges and logistical problems. From the data collected for 34 companies (winegrowers, cooperatives, merchants), we have constituted four classes of companies that present similarities in terms of market orientation (share of sales to the export market or the national market and share of sales through the supermarket channel), logistics strategy and innovation. This typology highlights two main company profiles. A quarter of the companies are more innovative and have implemented a more elaborate logistics strategy. These companies consider that a more elaborate logistics strategy (with the monitoring of customer satisfaction indicators, breakage rates, disputes... and the prevention of problems due to transport), will be an asset for their development and their performance. While the vast majority of companies in the sector think that their business stops "at the door of their cellars".