How “green” are small wineries? Western Australia's case

PurposeIn the wake of growing concerns about environmental issues in rural areas, some studies present environmental stewardship as a positive way for food producing businesses to benefit from consumer groups receptive to environmentally friendly growing practices. However, very little is reported on how winery operators, including those of small wineries, go about addressing environmental sustainability. The present exploratory study seeks to broaden the understanding of this area from a group of small winery operators from emerging Western Australian wine regions.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach in the form of face‐to‐face and telephone interviews among 42 participating wineries was chosen for this exploratory study.FindingsWhile participants' comments suggest they are currently involved in different ways to be environmentally sustainable, the study also identifies environmental threats affecting some winery operators severely. Such issues include latent water concerns and government agencies' action in the form of forest fires near vineyards that can cause great losses to winery entrepreneurs.Research limitations/implicationsDespite several useful insights identified in this study, with an excess of over 200 small wineries in Western Australia, the limited number of participating businesses may not allow for making generalisations about the state's or nation's wine industry.Practical implicationsSome of the issues identified in this study illustrate that it is not only up to wineries to follow environmentally friendly initiatives. Moreover, such issues need to be addressed to guarantee support for the industry in areas where climatic issues or human action pose potential threats.Originality/valueThe study examines environmental sustainability from small winery operators' perspective, a dimension that to date has been under researched, particularly in Western Australia.