Investigating the Activities of Hungarian Vineyards in the Light of the Data from the Test Enterprise System 2005-2014
The wine-growing area has decreased in Hungary, while the importance of individual estates has increased, and the importance of joint enterprises has declined. It is necessary to introduce modern technologies to increase competitiveness, but the deficiency of funds is a serious obstacle. The aim of our analysis is to examine how the profitability of wine-growing estates has changed according to plant size and business form in the period of 2005-2014, after Hungary joined the EU. We also examined whether the profitability proportional to production value, total equity, own equity and labour has changed in the industry. Our analyses were performed based on the FADN data of the Agricultural Research Institute. The gross production value per hectare was the highest in all the enterprises in the sector in 2011. The operating expenses were the most significant in the same year, but the increase in expenses was lower than the production. Consequently, the stakeholders of the grape and wine industry could realize the second highest pre-tax profit in the period. However, 2013 was the most favourable year for pre-tax profits. Producers could achieve lower production with much lower expenses, therefore profitability ratios were the best in 2013. The income generated fluctuated for enterprises of different sizes. For large farms, 2007 was the most favourable year, but the same year was the worst for medium-sized enterprises. For small farms, 2013 can be considered the most successful, while they experienced the biggest loss in 2010. In the period examined, large and medium-sized wine-growers were profitable, but small farms had to book three years of losses. Both vertical and horizontal integration is inevitable in the industry; accordingly it is necessary to coordinate vine-growing and viticulture, as well as the activities of grape growers and wineries.
