TY - JOUR
T1 - PEST analysis of the future Chinese vertical farming market
T2 - Environmental sustainability and energy savings
AU - Ning, Shuang
AU - Xydis, George
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - To provide people with an insight into market development in the Chinese vertical farming (VF) industry, this work has conducted a PEST analysis to identify the external market environment from political, economic, social and technological perspectives. VF is developing at a rapid speed with great market potential and opportunities. Environmental pollution and consumers increased awareness of a healthy lifestyle drive Chinese people to seek “safety, healthier and clean” food more than anyone else in the world. The increasing gross domestic product enables more and more people to afford VF-produced products. The great market opportunities have attracted many domestic and international investors to join the market. Until 2020, there were more than 200 plant factories operating in China, and the number is increasing. Nevertheless, the development of vertical farms is in the initial stage in China, which can be summarized as follows: 1) the high investment and operational costs are the main barriers to profitability; 2) technology development still lags behind other VF-advanced countries, such as in the development of intelligent crop management equipment; 3) insufficient government support, as promoting a vertical farm market requires more efficient political and financial support from the Chinese government; and 4) consumer public awareness of VF is too low.
AB - To provide people with an insight into market development in the Chinese vertical farming (VF) industry, this work has conducted a PEST analysis to identify the external market environment from political, economic, social and technological perspectives. VF is developing at a rapid speed with great market potential and opportunities. Environmental pollution and consumers increased awareness of a healthy lifestyle drive Chinese people to seek “safety, healthier and clean” food more than anyone else in the world. The increasing gross domestic product enables more and more people to afford VF-produced products. The great market opportunities have attracted many domestic and international investors to join the market. Until 2020, there were more than 200 plant factories operating in China, and the number is increasing. Nevertheless, the development of vertical farms is in the initial stage in China, which can be summarized as follows: 1) the high investment and operational costs are the main barriers to profitability; 2) technology development still lags behind other VF-advanced countries, such as in the development of intelligent crop management equipment; 3) insufficient government support, as promoting a vertical farm market requires more efficient political and financial support from the Chinese government; and 4) consumer public awareness of VF is too low.
KW - consumer acceptance
KW - macro-environmental analysis
KW - plant factories
KW - urban
KW - vertical farming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85158137401&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3934/AGRFOOD.2023026
DO - 10.3934/AGRFOOD.2023026
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85158137401
SN - 2471-2086
VL - 8
SP - 496
EP - 512
JO - AIMS Agriculture and Food
JF - AIMS Agriculture and Food
IS - 2
ER -