Understanding Consumer Preferences for Vertical Farming Produce and the Impact of Information: Insights from a Scottish Case Study

Vertical farming (VF) offers a potential solution to enhance food security, support rural econ-omies, and advance sustainable agriculture by minimising water usage, reducing the need for land, and increasing crop yields. However, its adoption potential depends on consumer ac-ceptance and demand. This study explores consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for vertical farming produce through a choice experiment focused on bowls of ready-to-eat salad leaves. We focus on the case study of Scotland, a country whose pedoclimatic conditions limit on-field production of fresh vegetables. An online survey was conducted with a sample of 800 Scottish consumers stratified by age and gender. Participants were assigned to one of four treatment groups. Each group received different information about VF, emphasising re-spectively environmental benefits, localness and local development, or energy concerns, in ad-dition to a baseline with no additional information. We find very limited prior knowledge of VF, increasing the salience of our treatments. We detect no significant difference in preferences between VF and on-field production per se, neither in the baseline, nor under the different treatments, but relative preference for products providing this information. Taste consistency, freshness (residual shelf life), and local origin, all enhanced by VF production, were important drivers of consumers’ choices. In the absence of vegetables grown on-field in the UK, national VF products were still preferred to imported ones. These findings can inform policymakers, producers, and retailers about strategies to enhance consumer acceptance and market potential for VF production.