In Trento, Italian origin is now dominant in the berry assortment, with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and currants almost always of national origin. Some foreign presence still remains, especially redcurrants from Chile, blueberries from Spain and Morocco, blackberries from Portugal and raspberries from Morocco, but the Italian presence remains clearly prevalent.
The pack sizes for blueberries and other berries are very small, generally 125 grams; the maximum is 250–300 g, but only for blueberries. Product quality is generally good, lots are fresh (from the last 3 days) and prices are generally rising, especially for raspberries. Blueberries remain expensive, apart from a few occasional promotions at 99 cents for 125 grams.
As for brands, the area is dominated by local names, particularly Sant’Orsola and Slomp; other packers such as Garden Frutta follow, along with others with a smaller presence.
Here are the main findings from the latest appointment with the Berry Observatory. Today, 17 June, the survey was carried out in the urban area of Trento and covered 17 points of sale belonging to 16 retail banners and 11 large-scale retail groups. Specifically: Aldi, Conad, Conad Margherita, Despar, Eurospar, Eurospesa, Eurospin, Famiglia Cooperativa, iperPoli, Lidl, MD, MiniPoli, Orvea, Pam, Poli, Prix.
Assortment
In the berry category, the 16 points of sale visited featured from a minimum of one to a maximum of 6 items, with an average of 3.5 items per point of sale.
Across the 17 points of sale visited, 82% had raspberries in their assortment and 100% had blueberries; 53% had blackberries, 18% redcurrants, 18% Tris packs, 6% Bis packs and 6% Mix packs.
Range breadth
6% of the points of sale with berries in their assortment had only one item on sale; 47% had two or three items on sale, while the remaining 47% had four or more items on sale.
Quality
Quality refers to the condition of the product, measured in terms of: absence of significant defects; healthy product but not in ideal condition (not fresh, tired, shrivelled, dull, without bloom); presence of damaged fruit and juice; presence of spoiled fruit and mould.
The groups with the best quality were Aldi, Eurospin, Gruppo Pam and Gruppo Poli.
Retail prices
Raspberries (16 surveys): min. 11.92 euro/kg - max. 25.52 euro/kg - average 21.42 euro/kg
Blueberries (32 surveys): min. 7.92 euro/kg - max. 25.90 euro/kg - average 15.63 euro/kg
Blackberries (9 surveys): min. 11.92 euro/kg - max. 23.92 euro/kg - average 20.24 euro/kg
Redcurrants (5 surveys): min. 23.92 euro/kg - max. 37.52 euro/kg - average 26.64 euro/kg
Tris packs (3 surveys): min. 21.93 euro/kg - max. 26.60 euro/kg - average 25.04 euro/kg
Overall total (65 surveys): min. 7.92 euro/kg - max. 37.52 euro/kg - average 18.98 euro/kg.
Brands
The points of sale visited featured berries from a total of 19 brands. The brand with the highest average prices in the category was Maso Ungherle. The brand with the lowest average prices for blueberries was Jolife, followed by Mondefruta.
Pack sizes
Half of the items surveyed in the blueberry category (50%) were sold in packs with a net weight of 125 grams.
