Biotecnología en la Industria Vitivinícola en Argentina: ¿Nuevas Modalidades de Innovación en una Actividad Tradicional?

Abstract

This work analyses the responses of the Argentine’s Wine Industry face to the opportunities bring about by biotechnology. Since liberalization policies, Foreign Direct Investment and newcomers have reinforced competition, encouraging product differentiation strategies and innovation efforts in products and processes. At the industrial level, innovation in fermentation processes has been traditionally driven by technology incorporated into equipment and, more recently, by the adoption of new commercial yeast and enzymes developments. This paper discusses the effects of these strategy changes over wine firms knowledge base and the role played by food ingredients firms and local Science and Technology infrastructure in biotechnology adoption.