The quality standards of Italian production remain consistently high, with competitive prices that support good turnover, especially for blueberries and blackberries. The prices of raspberries, however, are a bit higher due to the typical production gap of this period.
The first Romanian blueberries are beginning to appear, following the Italian season, as well as Polish raspberries, although the Spanish product is still on the market to compensate for the lack of Italian supply. Blackberries are predominantly Italian. Meanwhile, the domestic redcurrants season is starting, with relatively high prices, alongside Chilean products.
There are many brands, including local ones, especially for blueberries. In short, Padua confirms itself as a highly competitive market with many players.
These are some of the findings of the Small Fruit Observatory, which on July 2, 2025, made a stop in Padua, a city where 20 stores of 20 banners belonging to 14 organized retail groups were visited.
The banners included: Aldi, Alì, Alìper, Conad City, Conad Superstore, Coop, Eurospar, Eurospin, Famila, iN's, Iper Spar, Iperlando, Lidl, MD, Pam, Prix, Rossetto, Spazio Conad, Super A&O.
At the time of the visit, no small fruits were available in the Spak assortment.
Assortment: 4.5 items per store
The stores visited had from a minimum of two to a maximum of eight items, with an average of 4.5 items.
In the 19 stores with a small fruit assortment: 95% had raspberries; 100% had blueberries; 84% had blackberries; 37% had redcurrants; and 26% had mixed berry packs.
Assortment breadth: four or more items in 55% of stores
Let’s look at how these items are distributed. Among stores with small fruits, 26% offered two or three items, while the remaining 74% offered four or more items.
Quality
Quality refers to the healthiness of the product, as assessed by the Observatory’s technicians in terms of: absence of significant defects; healthy but suboptimal condition (not fresh, tired, shriveled, dull, lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruits and juice; presence of spoiled fruits and mold.
The groups with the best quality were found to be Aldi, Alì Supermercati, F.lli Lando, Gruppo Pam, Lidl, Prix, Rossetto, Selex.
Retail prices
Raspberries (21 samples): average €20.70/kg (min. €15.92/kg – max. €23.92/kg)
Blueberries (40 samples): average €15.90/kg (min. €7.98/kg – max. €26.24/kg)
Blackberries (20 samples): average €18.03/kg (min. €11.92/kg – max. €27.92/kg)
Redcurrants (7 samples): average €24.69/kg (min. €15.84/kg – max. €31.92/kg)
Mixed berries (5 samples): average €22.05/kg (min. €19.93/kg – max. €23.87/kg)
Total (93 samples): average €18.43/kg (min. €7.98/kg – max. €31.92/kg)
26 brands
In the visited stores, small fruits from a total of 26 brands were present. The brand with the highest average prices was Dole Italia. The brand with the lowest average blueberry prices was Trifoglio, followed by I Colori del Sapore.
Packaging
48% of the blueberry items recorded were sold in packs with a net weight of 125 grams.
