Application of Innovations in SMEs from Wine Industry in Bulgaria: the Case of Plovdiv Region

The economic development of a country, a region or an economic sector is associated with the introduction of innovation. The sector of wine production is traditional for the Bulgarian economy and thus the innovation activity in the sector can contribute to the overall development of the economic processes. The current paper presents the results of a pilot study. Through it we tested the questionnaire, which we are going to use in the final field work. Furthermore, it provides some preliminary results on what innovations have been applied in SMEs from wine industry, located in Plovdiv region. Thus, the questionnaire was sent to a selection of representatives of the sector. The results indicate that this format of the questions is easy to be understood and doesn't require much times to be filled. It also showed us that the wine producers already apply most of the suggested innovation or would apply them.