a study in a Union of wine cooperatives in the Champagne sector

2023-08-11 00:00:00

Résumés

In this article, the authors restore the lessons of a research-intervention carried out in the Champagne sector which aims to carry out an analysis of the relations established by the Union of cooperatives with its members on a central question: how cooperatives members perceive the governance of their union with a view to preserving the cooperative model? To answer this question, the methodology implemented is of a mixed nature with a questionnaire sent in August 2016 to all the cooperatives concerned by their study and 22 interviews conducted with cooperative presidents. The results show that the member cooperatives are generally satisfied with the governance of the Union but that the social contract in the sense of Sadi and Moulin (2014) can be weakened due to the distancing of the link (Barraud-Didier et al., 2012 ), hence the need to adjust the organization accordingly (Filippi, 2005).

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Plan

From the notion of corporate governance to that of cooperative governance

1. The notion of cooperative governance and its theoretical readings

2. Cooperative governance in the agricultural sector

3. Governance in the wine sector From the cooperative to the union of cooperatives

Research Methodology

1. Presentation of the case studied and the data collection method

2. Data analysis

Analysis of data collected by questionnaire

Analysis of the data collected during the interviews

Results

1. Representativeness and exchanges with the Board

Are the directors sufficiently accessible and representative?

2. The role of the CA and the office

3. Governance and membership perception

Discussion

Conclusion

Preview of the beginning of the text

Cooperatives are a force for maintaining French agricultural and agri-food potential. In Champagne, the 132 cooperatives represent 45% of the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) area of the vineyard, generate a turnover of one billion euros and employ 1,000 people. The wine cooperative plays a protective role for the family farm, by bringing together the production of a large number of small farms where viticulture is not the main activity. For these small winegrowers, cooperation avoids the harsh confrontation with an increasingly concentrated trade and distribution circuit. Between the imperatives of competitiveness and maintaining an identity, Champagne wine cooperatives are constantly looking for new sources of growth to consolidate the local economy.

This approach led cooperatives in the Champagne sector to unite by creating Unions of cooperatives more than 40 years ago. The Union of Cooperatives that…

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To quote this article

Paper reference

Jean Paul Mereaux et Jimmy Feige, “Governance and perception of member cooperatives: a study in a Union of wine cooperatives in the Champagne sector”, rural economy385 | 2023, 25-43.

Electronic reference

Jean Paul Mereaux et Jimmy Feige, “Governance and perception of member cooperatives: a study in a Union of wine cooperatives in the Champagne sector”, rural economy [En ligne], 385 | July-September, posted on January 04, 2025consulted the August 16, 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/economierurale/11538

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