Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management Program on Governance for Sustainable Development

The case traces the story of Ceago Vinegarden, a family-owned winery based in California whose owner is interested in adding an eco-label to his wine bottles in order to reach environmentally sensitive customers. Eco-labels provide additional information about a product. However, consumers might not recognize an eco-label or know what a particular eco-label represents for the product. This case highlights the challenges associated with the use of eco-labels as an environmental differentiation strategy when several emerging eco-labels are in competition. The students are asked to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with adopting an emerging eco-label that has little recognition with customers. The case examines whether there are any advantages of being a first mover in such a situation and what the options are for small companies interested in differentiating their products based on their environmental component.