The role of the SDGs as enhancers of the performance of Spanish wine cooperatives

•The cooperatives’ performance is linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).•The SDGs analyzed (SDGs 4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, and 17) show that the implementation of these SDGs boosts the cooperative performance of the most innovative Spanish winemakers, thus contributing to the economic development and prosperity of regions and nations.•Cooperatives should not only seek to grow in size to achieve higher performance. Better performance is a consequence of the interaction of several variables in addition to size (organic sales, exports, bottled products and innovation). According to the Brundtland Report, a new era of economic prosperity is possible through forceful yet socially and environmentally sustainable growth. In 2015, the United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. The social economy is a key force in achieving the SDGs. We argue that the alignment of business activity with SDGs directly enhances business performance. We study wine cooperatives and show that their performance depends on structural and organizational variables linked to certain SDGs. The aim of this study is to analyze the factors that can boost the performance of Spanish wine cooperatives with websites. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we study the influence of key factors cited in the recent literature and linked to the SDGs as drivers of high performance. We consider concern for the environment (through organic production), innovation (as a cross-cutting tool) in terms of website quality, internationalization (level of export activity), end-market orientation, and company size. The results show that cooperatives’ performance is enhanced by these factors and that they are linked to the SDGs. A key finding is that higher performance results from the interaction of several variables, including size. However, there is also a need for the presence of other variables, including diversification, which can simultaneously lead to greater performance.