Vous consultezDes producteurs indépendants face aux multinationales

Independent producers vs. multinationals. How Cognac’s winemakers are held in economic dependence
The worldwide commercialization of cognac is managed by a handful of big brands owned by multinational corporations operating in the sectors of luxury goods, wine and liquors. These conglomerates purchase their wine and their liquors from approximately 5,000 vine growers established in the regions of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Following extensive fieldwork in their vineyards, it is possible to observe the forms of dependency in which these independent producers are held. The economic domination of large trading corporations, however, does not affect evenly all the vine growers. Within a same region (the delimited region of Cognac), within a same sector (vine growing), and within a same professional status (owner-grower), socially differentiated and hierarchized groups can coexist. Depending on the structure of their capital – the volume of their economic capital combined with their cultural and social resources – independent vine growers can commit varying levels of resources in their resistance to economic domination.