Equalitas celebrates five years of its permanent roundtable with Lights on Work.

Equalitas is back with the latest edition of the Tavolo Vino-Lavoro (Wine-Work Table) : five years of discussion, research, and planning to make social sustainability a cornerstone of the Italian wine industry. This milestone was achieved as part of the Luci sul Lavoro (Lights on Work) Festival, one of the most important national events dedicated to culture and debate on this topic, celebrated with the meeting " Five Years of the Tavolo Vino-Lavoro (Wine-Work Table. A Review and a Look to the Future)" on Thursday, July 9, at the Cloister of the Fortezza di Montepulciano, as part of the 17th edition of the Festival.

The meeting provided a moment of shared reflection on the overall results achieved by the Roundtable, established in 2020 with the aim of promoting a vision of sustainability capable of integrating quality of work, well-being, and competitiveness within businesses. It has thus built an active observatory capable of engaging institutions, universities, businesses, protection consortia, buyers, and international stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue on the transformations of the wine industry's labor market. Over the years, the work of Equalitas and Luci sul Lavoro has explored some of the sector's key issues: from staff training to social sustainability policies in the wine business model, from migrant labor to youth policies, and even safety in wine districts . In this sense, the July 9th meeting was not only a moment of celebration of the Permanent Roundtable's progress, but also marked the start of its second five-year term, with the beginning of a new phase of work to define priorities and revitalize this shared commitment.

"Over the past five years, we've demonstrated that talking about sustainability also means talking about people ," emphasized Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, President of Equalitas . " Workplace well-being and safety are integral to the quality of wine and the ability of companies to generate value over time. We want to continue this journey, guiding the supply chain toward the new challenges facing the sector. Our goal is to consolidate the method we've built over the years, based on research, dialogue, and collaboration, and strengthen the role of the Consortia as drivers of best practices in the winery."

The meeting, moderated by Gianluca Semprini , journalist and television host, also saw the participation of Federico Varazi - Vice President of Slow Food, Marco Morganti - President of Assobenefit, Susanna Crociani - Vice President of the Consortium of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Jean-René Bilongo - President of the Placido Rizzotto Observatory.

Among the most significant results of the first five years has been the progressive recognition of social sustainability as an essential component of the wine supply chain. Indeed, according to the results of research promoted and disseminated by the Roundtable , 95% of the companies interviewed over the years agree with the definition of social sustainability proposed by the project, and generally speaking, companies that invest in emotional well-being are more productive (up to 23% higher profits and 78% less absenteeism) . In this process, the Equalitas standard, one of the leading standards bodies for sustainability in the Italian wine supply chain, has played a pioneering role, being among the first to integrate indicators dedicated to the labor dimension (over 50 in the current standard), thus making aspects such as equal opportunities, corporate welfare, and social responsibility throughout the supply chain increasingly measurable and verifiable. Alongside this progress, however, some persistent critical issues have emerged, attributable to a combination of organizational inertia, economic constraints, and a poor perception of return on investment. These issues particularly concern the adoption of certifications and the presence of women in management and executive roles.

The discussion finally outlined the main challenges and opportunities still open in the wine sector, starting with combating the exploitation of the most vulnerable workers, especially migrants, strengthening a culture of safety, supporting small businesses in adopting social sustainability tools, and leveraging the potential of younger generations. These issues, already of structural importance, are becoming increasingly important given the evolution of the European regulatory framework, both with regard to the CSRD Directive on reporting and in terms of combating social washing. On this basis, the new cycle of the Permanent Roundtable begins, with the aim of guiding the Italian wine industry towards concrete, measurable, and shared sustainability.

"Thanks to our decade-long collaboration with the Luci sul Lavoro festival, our culture of fair, safe, and productive work has grown, which we have propagated throughout our supply chain through the continuous improvement of the Equalitas standards, which today represent a model for approximately a quarter of the wine supply chain and are international benchmarks in the field. This edition of the Tavolo Vino-Lavoro (Wine-Work Table) has motivated us to dedicate ourselves even more strongly to this transfer of values, increasingly at the heart of local communities and businesses," commented Michele Manelli, Vice President of Equalitas responsible for this project.

Equalitas Wine Work Table Budget 2026

Equalitas is the sustainability standards body for the Italian wine industry, founded in 2015 through an initiative by FederDoc with the participation of CSQA Certificazioni, Valoritalia, Gambero Rosso, and 3AVino. Its SOPD–Sustainable Wine standard, published in 2017, was the first in its field to include social and labor sustainability indicators as an integral part of the certification model. Today, it has over 500 certified wineries, representing a total of over 20% of national wine production.