Summary of the presentation "The berry shopper: purchasing behaviour and trends" by Valeria Giachino (YouGov), as part of the Berry Area 2026 programme.
The evolution of the Italian shopping basket reveals a deep polarization: on the one hand, strict attention to the household budget in response to inflationary peaks; on the other, a marked willingness to invest in quality and food wellbeing.
In this scenario, YouGov's observatory on purchasing behaviour captures the unstoppable rise of berries in the national fruit and vegetable market.
With a value share now challenging historical categories and increasingly continuous purchasing dynamics, berries are confirmed as a strategic turnover driver for large-scale retail.
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Analysing shopper profiles and channel incidence is now crucial to optimize the shelf offer, adapt formats and retain high-spending consumers.
Key takeaways
1. Berries enter the top 5 fruit categories purchased in Italy by value.
The category has overtaken bananas and reached 77.2% penetration in 2025, with structural growth of 6 percentage points over the last four years.
2. Inflation fragments shopping and increases purchase occasions.
The search for savings generates lighter but more frequent baskets, with more than 209 annual shopping acts for fast-moving consumer goods. This dynamic benefits fruit and vegetables, increasing shelf visibility for fresh products.
3. Heavy buyers drive the category's value.
20% of buyers alone generate more than 43% of berry volumes, with a frequency of almost 23 purchase acts per year and spending above 93 euros.
4. Blueberries record the strongest growth.
Blueberries reach 34.3% penetration, with an increase of 11.5 points compared with 2022, and a purchase frequency of 7.5 times per year.
5. Large-scale retail dominates berry sales.
Sales are strongly concentrated in large-scale retail: supermarkets at 53.8% and discount stores at 22.8%. Online remains marginal, accounting for just 2% of value.
What emerges from the presentation
Recent findings from the YouGov panel on the Italian market in 2025 show a cautious consumer, whose main concern remains the household budget.
This pressure has structurally changed the approach to shopping: to contain the average receipt, Italians buy more often but with lighter baskets, progressively moving away from the traditional stock-up logic.
However, this fragmentation of purchases translates into an unexpected opportunity for the fruit and vegetable department. By visiting the point of sale more than four times a week, shoppers multiply touchpoints and opportunities for both impulse and planned purchases of fresh products.
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More visits, more opportunities for fresh produce
The reduction in the average receipt does not necessarily penalize berries. On the contrary, the increase in visit frequency can strengthen the relationship between shoppers and the fruit and vegetable department.
Every visit to the point of sale becomes a new opportunity to intercept planned purchases, promotions, more suitable formats and impulse consumption.
Berries overtake bananas by value
In this context, berries show extraordinary commercial vitality, ranking fifth by value among fruit categories purchased in Italy.
Overtaking bananas, one of the historically most consolidated references in fruit and vegetable FMCG, signals a significant change in the value composition of the fruit department.
The result does not depend only on the price effect, but on a real expansion of the buyer base. Almost eight out of ten Italian households, equal to 77.2%, purchased berries over the last year.
Strawberries consolidated, blueberries accelerating
Among individual products, strawberries maintain a strong position, with consolidated penetration of 71.3%.
Blueberries, however, are the product showing the most disruptive trend. With 11.5 penetration points gained in just four years, they are now regularly entering the homes of more than one third of Italian households.
Penetration of 34.3% and a purchase frequency of 7.5 times per year indicate that blueberries are gradually moving beyond occasional purchasing and consolidating as an increasingly recurring product in the food routine.
| Indicator | Key figure | Implication for the supply chain |
|---|---|---|
| Berry penetration | 77.2% in 2025. | The category has now entered the shopping basket of the majority of Italian households. |
| Penetration growth | +6 points in four years. | The market is showing structural growth, not merely a short-term trend. |
| Blueberries | 34.3% penetration; +11.5 points since 2022. | They are the most dynamic product in the category and require dedicated shelf management. |
| Heavy buyers | 20% of buyers; more than 43% of volumes. | Priority segment for larger formats, premiumization and loyalty-building. |
| Large-scale retail channels | Supermarkets 53.8%; discount stores 22.8%. | The category is developing mainly in modern physical grocery retail. |
Heavy buyers: the target that sustains the category
The socio-demographic analysis identifies a buyer base concentrated mainly in Northern Italy, in metropolitan contexts and in medium-high economic classes.
However, the most relevant figure for supply chain operators is the strong segmentation of the customer base. The 20% of consumers classified as heavy buyers account for more than 43% of total purchased volumes.
This strategic core buys berries almost every two weeks, with a frequency close to 23 purchase acts per year and spending above 93 euros per household.
Intercepting this demand requires rapid adaptation of the offer. The growth of larger pack sizes responds precisely to the consumption needs of these berry lovers, who seek continuity, relative convenience and product availability suited to their frequency of use.
Large-scale retail is the centre of gravity of the category
At distribution level, the sector is firmly anchored in large-scale retail.
Traditional supermarkets and discount stores together account for almost 77% of berry turnover, with an incidence higher than the average for fruit overall.
This confirms that berry purchasing is now fully integrated into the routine of modern physical grocery shopping, where availability, visibility, rotation, promotion and formats become decisive factors.
By contrast, specialist channels and e-commerce struggle to carve out significant market shares. Online, with just 2% of value, remains a complementary rather than a replacement channel.
The new challenge: turning penetration into loyalty
The category has already reached a very large share of Italian households. The next step is to increase frequency, quantity per purchase act and category loyalty.
To achieve this, the market needs more readable assortments, formats consistent with different consumption profiles, constant quality and communication capable of enhancing taste, health and convenience.
In summary
Berries are no longer a niche within the fruit and vegetable department. Their entry into the top 5 by value, the overtaking of bananas and penetration of 77.2% indicate that the category has reached a new commercial maturity.
The growth of blueberries, the role of heavy buyers and the centrality of large-scale retail suggest, however, that the potential is far from exhausted.
The outlook outlined by YouGov data indicates that, if these expansion rates continue, berries could increasingly challenge the turnover leadership of the most classic and historical fruit categories in the Italian market.
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