Soft fruit availability remains limited on the shelves of Modena’s grocery retailers. This is what emerges from the Soft Fruit Observatory report for October 21: availability shows no signs of recovering and appears to have declined further in some cases. The main concerns relate to blueberries, which, although available in all 15 stores visited, occupy limited shelf space. The 125-gram pack is the most common, alongside a few 250- and 300-gram options.
Meanwhile, brands and origins are fragmented: there are 23 brands in total, but their presence is often limited, and none stands out clearly. Garden Frutta is the exception, with greater visibility.
Blueberry quality is very good. For raspberries and blackberries, however, prices are relatively high, and good initial quality is often accompanied by slow turnover, which can lead to product deterioration on the shelf.
In Modena, the Soft Fruit Observatory covered 15 stores across 15 retail banners belonging to 12 grocery retail groups.
The product ranges were surveyed at the following stores: Aldi, Conad, Coop, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospar, Eurospin, Extra Coop, IN's, iperFamila, IperRossetto, Lidl, MD, Spazio Conad, U2.
Assortment
The stores visited carried between two and seven products, with an average of 4.3 products per store. Among the 15 stores carrying soft fruit, 93% stocked raspberries; 100%, blueberries; 80%, blackberries; 40%, redcurrants; 27%, a mix; and 20%, a trio pack.
Range breadth
None of the stores carrying soft fruit stocked just one product (0%). Thirty-three percent of stores carried two or three products; the remaining 67% carried four or more.
Quality
Quality refers to product condition and is assessed by looking at: the absence of significant defects; sound fruit that is not in ideal condition (not fresh, tired, shrivelled, dull, or lacking bloom); damaged fruit and juice; and spoiled fruit and mould.
The retailers with the best product quality were Aldi, Lidl, MD, Rossetto, Selex and Unes.
Selling prices
Raspberries (21 observations): min. €14.95/kg – max. €27.84/kg – average €19.33/kg
Blueberries (36 observations): min. €12.48/kg – max. €29.44/kg – average €19.21/kg
Blackberries (13 observations): min. €18/kg – max. €27.84/kg – average €24.55/kg
Redcurrants (6 observations): min. €14.32/kg – max. €23.84/kg – average €17.59/kg
Trio pack (3 observations): min. €23.27/kg – max. €26.33/kg – average €24.93/kg
Overall total (79 observations): min. €12.48/kg – max. €29.44/kg – average €20.22/kg.
Brands
The stores visited carried soft fruit from a total of 23 brands.
Esselunga Bio had the highest average prices. Beta had the lowest average blueberry prices, followed by Dole Europe.
Pack sizes
Fifty-eight percent of the blueberry products surveyed were sold in packs with a net weight of 125 grams.
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