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Sustainability of wine supply chain from welfare at work

Equalitas presents Distretti del Vino e della Sicurezza: sustainability of the wine supply chain starts with well-being at work. Training, protection and rights: the Nobile di Montepulciano pilot project launches a sustainable and safe model that can be replicated by Italy’s 500 wine consortia.

Equalitas turns the spotlight on the issue of workplace safety with the presentation of “Distretti del Vino e della Sicurezza,” the project promoted together with Luci sul Lavoro, focusing on the case study of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The initiative was created to reflect on the strategic role of Italian wine consortia (more than 500 for about 800,000 employees) as key players in promoting a work culture focused on the individual and his or her rights.

The conference, moderated by Michele Manelli, vice president of Equalitas, was attended by Andrea Rossi, president of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, the project’s reference reality, identified as a replicable model for the entire system of tricolor wine districts, and Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, president of Equalitas. Other guests included Giangiacomo Gallarati Scotti Bonaldi, president of FederDoc, Mirko Borselli, secretary of FLAI CGIL Toscana, Pietro Gasparri, director of the PQAI Executive Office – Certified Quality, Protection of Geographical Indications of Agricultural, Food and Wine Products, and General Affairs. Also present were academics including Fabio Berti, professor at the University of Siena; Alessandro Innocenti, professor at the University of Siena; and Marco Marazza, expert and lecturer in Labor Law.

The annual permanent table Wine and Work

The initiative is part of the annual Wine andWork permanent table, the path traced for years by Equalitas aimed at promoting an integrated sustainability that includes both the environmental and economic dimensions, as well as the welfare and protection of workers. The data on Agriculture in Italy, presented during the roundtable, showed a national picture that is still critical: in 2023, there were about 26,546 accidents at work, 138 of which were fatal, of which 22 percent involved foreign workers, who make up 22 percent of the workforce.

A figure that reflects the often precarious working conditions affecting foreign labor: more dangerous tasks, fewer protections, language barriers, contractual and psychological fragility.

SustainabilityThe presentation of the research

The presentation of the research and the discussion that emerged showed the value and scalability of the initiative by consortia and all stakeholders. On the one hand, recurring accident case histories emerged that will allow the construction of as many training paths for wine supply chains. On the other, the opportunities that emerged to create virtual reality tools that can surpass even language barriers show the added value of the project.

Finally, they discussed how analyses of this kind can meet the adjustment of small businesses to the new legislation on risk assessment itself and thus on employer responsibilities. All parties involved then agreed to meet again next year with the clear goal of supporting Equalitas and the wine consortia on a truly positive and concrete path.

The role of protection consortia

It is time for protection consortia to be spokesmen for excellence that goes beyond product quality, becoming promoters of a culture of safe, respectful and dignified work,” stressed Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, recently reappointed as president of Equalitas – The sustainability of the entire sector passes through the protection of the worker: this is why it is increasingly important and necessary to put the person at the center by identifying his or her psycho-physical well-being as the main lever of the company’s productivity and the consequent solidity and longevity of the sector. This requires a strengthening of prevention policies in terms of investment in training and occupational medicine. A renewal that starts from the dissemination of good practices of individual realities and, in this, the case of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a virtuous example.”

Going into the merits of the wine sector, the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano immediately proved to be the spearhead for defining a model of integrated sustainability, a project that will dictate the guidelines for the other Consortiums. With more than 90 bottlers and 2,000 employees, it represents a highly relevant reality both from a historical point of view (in fact, it is one of the oldest wines in Europe) and from a green perspective, being the first Consortium to have adopted the Equalitas standard. A testimony of how quality and sustainability can coexist not only of the product but in the internal production system, creating a concrete model applicable on a national scale.

 

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