TY - JOUR

T1 - Consumers' expectations and experiences of salad greens, herbs, and fruits from vertical farming

T2 - Comparison with organic produce

AU - Jaeger, Sara R.

AU - Chheang, Sok L.

AU - Roigard, Christina M.

AU - Frøst, Michael Bom

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Vertical farming (VF) is a novel and high-tech production system for several types of edible plants. Currently, these are primarily salad greens and herbs, but scope exists to expand into a broader range of fruits and vegetables. VF attracts considerable attention because of its potential to contribute to a healthier and more sustainable global food supply. Past consumer research points to dominantly positive VF consumer attitudes. However, knowledge is lacking about VF-grown product expectations and experiences. The present research is situated in this gap and used a comparative research strategy – VF vs organic agriculture. Using online surveys, product knowledge and sensory product expectations were studied among consumers in three European countries. This confirmed past reports of low VF product experience and found sensory product expectations to be less positive than those for organic product variants. Across a range of salad greens, herbs, and fruits, consumers expected reduced flavour intensity and less freshness in VF-grown produce. In two taste tests with commercial samples conducted in Denmark (∼190 consumers), actual product experience was measured. The key finding was disconfirmation of negative sensory expectations. VF-grown produce was not systematically disliked compared with organic counterparts. Moreover, there were no instances of VF-grown produce being disliked by consumers, on average. An analysis of the sensory drivers of liking for salad greens and herbs revealed the importance of variety characteristic flavours. That is, if growing, say, basil, then it is important that the product has an identifiable ‘basil flavour.’ This holds for organic and VF-grown produce alike.

AB - Vertical farming (VF) is a novel and high-tech production system for several types of edible plants. Currently, these are primarily salad greens and herbs, but scope exists to expand into a broader range of fruits and vegetables. VF attracts considerable attention because of its potential to contribute to a healthier and more sustainable global food supply. Past consumer research points to dominantly positive VF consumer attitudes. However, knowledge is lacking about VF-grown product expectations and experiences. The present research is situated in this gap and used a comparative research strategy – VF vs organic agriculture. Using online surveys, product knowledge and sensory product expectations were studied among consumers in three European countries. This confirmed past reports of low VF product experience and found sensory product expectations to be less positive than those for organic product variants. Across a range of salad greens, herbs, and fruits, consumers expected reduced flavour intensity and less freshness in VF-grown produce. In two taste tests with commercial samples conducted in Denmark (∼190 consumers), actual product experience was measured. The key finding was disconfirmation of negative sensory expectations. VF-grown produce was not systematically disliked compared with organic counterparts. Moreover, there were no instances of VF-grown produce being disliked by consumers, on average. An analysis of the sensory drivers of liking for salad greens and herbs revealed the importance of variety characteristic flavours. That is, if growing, say, basil, then it is important that the product has an identifiable ‘basil flavour.’ This holds for organic and VF-grown produce alike.

KW - Controlled environment agriculture

KW - Product expectations

KW - Product experience

KW - Sensory quality

KW - Vertical farming

U2 - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.105020

DO - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.105020

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85174832507

VL - 112

JO - Food Quality and Preference

JF - Food Quality and Preference

SN - 0950-3293

M1 - 105020

ER -