We are in the middle of a seasonal transition for almost all berries, especially blackberries and blueberries: Mexican blackberries are starting to appear – marking the end of the Italian season – while blueberries from Peru are consolidating their presence (the Southern Hemisphere season is beginning), with Polish product rapidly decreasing.
As for quality standards, they are generally good: the processing batches are fresh, and prices are rising, especially for blueberries, due to limited supply. In terms of pack sizes, given prices and product scarcity, blueberries are mostly sold in 125-gram packs. Since Florence is not a highly developed market, there are few brands, only the major and established ones.
This is the summary of today’s survey on berries in large-scale retail distribution (GDO) in the urban area of Florence, September 10, 2025. The study covered 15 stores from 15 retail banners belonging to 10 large-scale retail groups.
In particular, assortments were recorded at stores of Aldi, Carrefour Express, Carrefour Market, Conad City, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospin, IN's, Ipercoop, Lidl, Pam, Pam Local, Penny.
Assortment
In the berry category, the surveyed stores offered a variable assortment, ranging from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5 SKUs. The average was 2.8 SKUs per store. The availability percentages for the different fruits were as follows: raspberries 67%; blueberries 93%; blackberries 47%; red currants 40%; berry mixes 20%.
Product range
The analysis revealed that 20% of the stores offering berries had only one SKU. 47% offered two to three SKUs, while 33% had four or more SKUs.
Quality
Quality refers to product condition, measured in terms of: absence of major defects; sound product but in suboptimal conditions (not fresh, limp, shriveled, dull, lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruits and juice; presence of spoiled fruits and mold.
The groups with the best quality were Aldi, Carrefour, Coop, Esselunga, Eurospin, Lidl, Selex.
Retail prices
Raspberries (13 records): min. €15.92/kg – max. €30.80/kg – average €21.27/kg
Blueberries (19 records): min. €11.98/kg – max. €24.00/kg – average €19.61/kg
Blackberries (8 records): min. €12.72/kg – max. €20.00/kg – average €17.46/kg
Red currants (8 records): min. €11.92/kg – max. €19.84/kg – average €14.86/kg
Berry mix (3 records): min. €21.67/kg – max. €24.53/kg – average €23.16/kg
Overall total (51 records): min. €11.92/kg – max. €30.80/kg – average €19.16/kg.
Brands
Across the surveyed stores, a total of 19 brands of berries were found. The brand with the highest average prices was Natura Matura, while Melinda and Moderna srl offered the most competitive prices for blueberries.
Packaging
79% of blueberry SKUs are sold in 125-gram packs.
