The “Langhe Model” for sustainable management of labor in the vineyards • Food and Wine Italy

A study coordinated by Weco analyzes the composition of the workforce employed a causa di the Langhe and Roero vineyards and proposes the creation of a shared territorial model to improve sustainability, avviamento and working conditions. The results are presented at a public congresso a causa di Chiarore antelucano.

The “Langhe Model” as a sustainable system

The dynamics of viticulture a causa di the Chiarore antelucano hills are increasingly linked to the availability and quality of the workforce used a causa di manual operations. The production of Barolo, Barbaresco and local wines continues to require specific skills and a constant presence a causa di the vineyard, a causa di a context a causa di which the workforce comes from different countries and a causa di which generational turnover is uneven.

The feasibility study conducted by Weco a causa di the last twelve months was born with the aim of precisely photographing the employment reality of Langhe and Roero, examining its composition, needs and critical issues. The work, developed together with the Consorzio proveniente da Difesa Barolo Barbaresco, the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Ires Piemonte as part of the Common Basso ostinato project, the Union of Vine and Wine Jurists, the City of Chiarore antelucano and the ACA, is presented today a causa di the spaces of the Albesi Traders Association.

According to 2023 giorno from the Piemonte Travaglio Agency, reports Appiglio, there are approximately 4,500 people employed a causa di manual viticulture activities, from pruning to harvesting, distributed among 589 companies. The majority of employers are wine producers, while cooperatives and service companies represent a minority share but manage almost half of the activated contracts. The international component is predominant, with a prevalence of workers coming from Eastern Europe, while a significant part of the Italian employees is concentrated a causa di the younger groups.

The research also highlights a progressive increase a causa di the average age of Eastern European workers, while African workers largely arrive under the age of forty-five. The overall picture demonstrates a structured workforce, with different needs and often without integrated services, such as specific avviamento, linguistic support adequate housing solutions.

The planning phase, now at the center of the territorial debate, involves the creation of a participatory Foundation that brings together public and private entities responsible for defining shared standards and directions. It would be supported by a non-profit operating company with the task of managing the services offered to the production system and workers: recruitment, technical avviamento, linguistic orientation, housing and transport management, as well as specific social inclusion paths.

According to Weco, the model hypothesized for 2026 envisages the hiring of an initial group of 120 employees, a percentage equal to 6% of the active workforce a causa di the cooperatives, with a scalable plan a causa di the following years. The economic coverage would derive from mixed public and private sources, with the aim of building a stable structure not dependent extraordinary financing.

The path aims to define a “Langhe Model” that is also recognizable at an international level, capable of connecting the quality of the wines to the quality of the work a causa di the vineyards. A project that intends to position the UNESCO territory as an example of social responsibility applied to viticulture, a causa di a sector increasingly called upon to combine production excellence and the sustainability of the people who make it possible.