A Mercantilist Brand: The British East India Company and Madeira Wine, 1756-1834

Teresa Da Silva Lopes, Bob Fredona*, Benedita Camara

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study analyses the long-term power of mercantilist brands,
contrasting reputation building and protection strategies in the Madeira
and Port wine industries in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century.
The Portuguese crown created a collective brand for Port in 1756, but
Madeira wine only received similar protection in the late twentieth
century. This study argues that the Madeira wine industry relied, instead,
upon a different type of mercantilist brand, a diffuse and multi-faceted
“global” umbrella brand, that of the British East India Company, which
more than rivalled the power of the Portuguese state as a product
certifier and endorser.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages38
JournalBusiness history review
Early online date3 Oct 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 3 Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.

Keywords

  • mercantilism
  • mercantilist brands
  • merchants
  • East India Company
  • Madeira Wine

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