Difficulties in the change of origin for blueberries, as the Chilean season is coming to an end while delays are affecting Spain and Morocco. This has resulted in higher prices, smaller pack sizes and limited product availability on shelves.
The same applies to raspberries, the big absentees of the moment, with extremely high prices and scarce supply. Blackberries, on the other hand, remain stable both in terms of prices and supply, while red currants are beginning to noticeably disappear from shelves and, where available, they are sold at high prices.
There are not many brands, and the overall quality of the product available on shelves is generally good.
These are the main findings of the survey carried out today, 3 March 2026, in the urban area of Piacenza (Italy), which involved 16 stores belonging to 16 retail banners across 13 large-scale retail groups.
The assortments of the following retail chains were surveyed: Aldi, Basko, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospin, Galassia, Gulliver, Il Gigante, In's, Ipercoop, Italmark, Lidl, MD, Penny.
Assortment
In the berries category, the stores visited offered between a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5 references, with an average of 3 references per store.
Among the 16 stores visited with a berries assortment: 69% carried raspberries, 94% blueberries, 38% blackberries, 13% red currants and 38% mixed berry packs (tris).
Range width
19% of the stores with berries in assortment offered only one reference for sale; 38% offered 2 or 3 references, while the remaining 43% of stores offered 4 or more references.
Quality
Quality refers to the product condition, assessed in terms of: absence of significant defects; product that is healthy but not in ideal condition (not fresh, tired, shrivelled, dull, lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruit and juice leakage; presence of spoiled fruit and mould.
The groups with the best quality results were Aldi, Basko, Conad, Coop, Esselunga, Eurospin, Gruppo Pam, Gulliver, MD.
Retail prices
Raspberries (13 observations): min. €23.92/kg, max. €31.92/kg, average €29.31/kg
Blueberries (24 observations): min. €15.80/kg, max. €23.92/kg, average €19.08/kg
Blackberries (7 observations): min. €22.24/kg, max. €26.32/kg, average €24.34/kg
Red currants (2 observations): min. €23.84/kg, max. €27.84/kg, average €25.84/kg
Mixed pack (6 observations): min. €23.87/kg, max. €33.27/kg, average €26.90/kg
Total overall (52 observations): min. €15.80/kg, max. €33.27/kg, average €23.51/kg.
Brands
In the stores visited, berries from a total of 19 brands were present.
The brand with the highest average prices in the category was Fogliati. The brand with the lowest average prices for blueberries was Moderna, followed by Cuna de Platero.
Packs
46% of the references recorded for blueberries are sold in packs with a net weight of 125 grams.
