More than three quarters of women in wine have faced industry sexism

More than three quarters of women working in the wine industry have said sexism is one of the main challenges facing the sector, according to a new study.

The survey was conducted by Proof Insight in partnership with Curious Vines, which was founded by Queena Wong to bring women in the industry together.

All 726 respondents were women who hold or have held roles over the past five years across winemaking, sales, distribution, retail, hospitality and marketing.

The report found 78% of women in sommelier or hospitality roles have been affected by sexism or gender bias, with seven in ten women saying there have been instances when they felt uncomfortable in the workplace due to comments or jokes made by men.

One respondent said: “We have to put up with and laugh in a misogynistic environment.”

Almost half (44%) of women have considered leaving the wine industry because of the challenges.

Over one in three women said they had faced harassment while working. The number rose to one in two among 18-to-34-year-olds and two thirds of participants agreed that “the wine industry is not doing enough to protect women”.

The survey also shed light on concerns over the underrepresentation of women in the field, as only 9% of female industry staff work for a company with mostly or all female leadership.

Over half (51%) of women who have been on maternity or other parental leave in the last five years said they were impacted by discrimination.

Alice Goody, head of insight at Proof, said that women who work for businesses with platforms for reporting discrimination or prejudice are more confident that action will be taken.

Wong said: “The report highlights that the UK wine industry has significant work to do to improve the experience of women. The conclusions from the survey can now be used to kickstart conversations for real action to create a new world in wine, where we protect, retain and uplift female resource."

Presenting the report yesterday (18 October), Wong said she hoped the study would become a "catalyst for making some real change.”