The new Piacenza Small Fruit Observatory, conducted today, 22 July 2026, reveals that the Italian blueberry season is coming to an end. Polish blueberries are beginning to appear in good volumes, including in larger pack sizes such as 500 grams. Blueberries from Romania and the first shipments from Peru are also available, along with the last late-season Spanish blueberries.
In terms of quality, the produce is generally good. Some batches are unsatisfactory, but this may be due more to improper product handling than to the actual quality standards.
Lastly, there are many brands: Piacenza is a highly competitive market despite the limited shelf space available. Production batches tend to be fresh and date from this week. Blueberry prices are rising slightly, raspberry prices are high, while blackberry prices remain medium-low.
These are the main findings of the survey conducted today in the urban area of Piacenza, Italy, covering 16 stores operated by 16 retail banners belonging to 13 large-scale retail groups.
The assortments were surveyed in stores operated by the following banners: Aldi, Basko, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospin, Galassia, Gulliver, Il Gigante, In's, Ipercoop, Italmark, Lidl, MD and Penny.
Assortment
In the small fruit category, the stores visited carried between a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 8 product listings, with an average of 4.5 listings per store.
Of the 16 stores visited that stocked a small fruit assortment, 75% carried raspberries, 94% blueberries, 88% blackberries, 31% redcurrants, 25% Trio packs and 6% Mixed packs.
Range breadth
Of the stores carrying small fruit, 6% offered only one product listing; 13% offered 2 or 3 listings, while the remaining 75% offered 4 or more listings.
Quality
Quality refers to the condition and soundness of the product, measured in terms of: absence of significant defects; sound produce in less-than-ideal condition (not fresh, tired, shrivelled, dull or lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruit and juice leakage; presence of spoiled fruit and mould.
The groups with the best quality were Aldi, Conad, Coop, Esselunga and MD.
Retail prices
Raspberries (14 observations): min. €15.04/kg, max. €23.92/kg, average €21.27/kg
Blueberries (45 observations): min. €8.30/kg, max. €23.80/kg, average €14.51/kg
Blackberries (18 observations): min. €11.92/kg, max. €23.84/kg, average €16.07/kg
Redcurrants (5 observations): min. €11.92/kg, max. €31.84/kg, average €18.29/kg
Trio packs (4 observations): min. €19.93/kg, max. €25.20/kg, average €23.38/kg
Overall total (86 observations): min. €8.30/kg, max. €31.84/kg, average €16.57/kg.
Brands
The stores visited carried small fruit from a total of 30 brands.
Trifoglio was the brand with the highest average prices in the category. Fogliati had the lowest average blueberry prices, followed by Sunberry.
Packaging
36% of the blueberry listings surveyed were sold in packs with a net weight of 125 grams.
