In 2025, the Italian blackberry market shows a mixed profile. On the one hand, the category is expanding its consumer base: buyers are increasing, penetration is growing, and total value reaches its highest level of the five-year period. On the other hand, the main indicators of purchase intensity are weakening: total volumes are declining, volume per buyer is falling, frequency is decreasing, and the quantity purchased per individual occasion is becoming even lighter.
The overall reading therefore suggests a category that in 2025 is growing mainly through a broader buyer base and higher average prices, rather than through stronger consumption by each individual buyer. For the supply chain, this is an important signal: blackberries are reaching more households, but they still remain a category with a fragile purchasing dynamic in quantitative terms.
Basic indicators and market reach
The reference base, namely Italian households, rises from 26.114 million in 2024 to 26.563 million in 2025, an increase of 449 thousand households, equal to +2.7%.
Blackberry buyers (number of purchasing households) increase from 1.709 million in 2024 to 1.922 million in 2025, with an increase of 214 thousand households and a variation of +12.5%. Over the five-year period, the path has been uneven but overall positive: from 1.757 million in 2021, the figure falls to 1.448 million in 2022, then the category recovers to 1.500 million in 2023, accelerates to 1.709 million in 2024, and reaches the highest level of the series in 2025. The picture is therefore one of a recovery after a decline, culminating in an expansion of the buyer base.
Penetration also confirms this trajectory. In 2025 it rises to 7.24%, compared with 6.54% in 2024, with an increase of 0.69 points and +10.6%. Over the five-year period, after declining from 6.73% in 2021 to 5.66% in 2022, it shows progressive growth to 5.86% in 2023, 6.54% in 2024, and finally 7.24% in 2025. This is an indicator showing structural growth over the last three years, pointing to a wider diffusion of the category among Italian households.
These three KPIs clearly show that in 2025 the blackberry market is growing first and foremost through an expanded purchasing base. The category is able to recruit new buyers and improve its presence in shopping baskets, which represents one of the main strengths of the most recent period.
Volumes: more households involved, but lighter average purchases
Total volume stands at 805 tons in 2025, down from 843 tons in 2024. The change is -38 tons, equal to -4.5%. The five-year trend is clearly uneven: 706 tons in 2021, falling to 540 in 2022, recovering to 649 in 2023, rising strongly to 843 in 2024, and then declining again in 2025. Although still above 2021 levels, the latest figure interrupts the recovery path observed in the previous two years.
Volume per buyer falls from 0.49 kg in 2024 to 0.42 kg in 2025, a reduction of 0.07 kg and -15.1%. This is one of the most significant changes. Over the five-year period, after the low of 0.37 kg in 2022, the KPI had recovered to 0.43 kg in 2023 and 0.49 kg in 2024, before reversing in 2025. The overall picture is therefore one of an uneven trend, but the most recent comparison clearly signals weaker purchase intensity.
Volume per occasion also continues to decline. In 2025 it stands at 0.16 kg, compared with 0.17 kg in 2024, with a variation of -0.01 kg and -7.3%. Over the five-year period, the pattern appears almost constantly downward: 0.19 kg in 2021, 0.18 kg in 2022, 0.17 kg in 2023 and 2024, and 0.16 kg in 2025. Here the signal is one of a structural decline: each purchase act is gradually becoming lighter.
Purchase frequency falls to 2.67 occasions in 2025, compared with 2.92 in 2024, with a reduction of 0.25 occasions and -8.4%. Over the five-year period, the path was initially weak and then improving: 2.10 in 2021, 2.04 in 2022, then a recovery to 2.47 in 2023 and a peak at 2.92 in 2024, followed by a retreat in 2025. Once again, the picture is one of recovery after a decline, but with a setback in the latest year.
The combination of these indicators is very instructive. In 2025, blackberries are bought by more households, but consumers buy them less often and above all in smaller quantities per purchase act. This is why, despite the increase in buyers, total volume declines. The main weakness of the category in the latest year is therefore the fragility of consumption intensity.
Value and spending: the market grows thanks to average price
Total market value for blackberries reaches EUR 15.163 million in 2025, up from EUR 14.423 million in 2024. The increase amounts to EUR 739 thousand, equal to +5.1%. Over the five-year period, the trend is positive but not linear: EUR 9.442 million in 2021, falling to EUR 7.293 million in 2022, then recovering to EUR 11.007 million in 2023, growing to EUR 14.423 million in 2024, and reaching a new high in 2025. It is therefore fair to describe this as structural growth after the 2022 downturn.
Spend per buyer declines from EUR 8.44 in 2024 to EUR 7.89 in 2025, a reduction of EUR 0.55 equal to -6.6%. Over the five-year period, the KPI had risen from EUR 5.38 in 2021 to EUR 5.03 in 2022, then increased sharply to EUR 7.34 in 2023 and EUR 8.44 in 2024, before the correction seen in the latest year. The 2025 level still remains above that of the early years in the series, but the most recent comparison shows a loss in average value generated by each buyer.
Spend per occasion, on the other hand, increases slightly from EUR 2.89 to EUR 2.95, with a variation of EUR 0.06 and +2.0%. Over the five-year period, the path was: EUR 2.56 in 2021, EUR 2.47 in 2022, EUR 2.97 in 2023, EUR 2.89 in 2024, and EUR 2.95 in 2025. This is therefore a relatively stable indicator, but at higher levels than at the beginning of the period.
The real engine behind value growth in 2025 is the average price, which rises from EUR 17.12/kg in 2024 to EUR 18.84/kg in 2025. The increase is EUR 1.72/kg, equal to +10.1%. Over the five-year period, growth is very clear: EUR 13.36/kg in 2021, 13.51 in 2022, 16.95 in 2023, 17.12 in 2024, and 18.84 in 2025. This is a very clear case of structural growth.
The combined reading of the economic KPIs is therefore precise: the value of the blackberry market in 2025 grows despite lower volumes, thanks to a significant increase in average price and a broader buyer base. In other words, the market is growing mainly because of prices and buyer recruitment, not because of stronger quantitative purchase intensity.
Loyalty: slight decline after years of recovery
Repeat rate stands at 45.14% in 2025, slightly down from 46.14% in 2024. The variation is -0.99 points, equal to -1.0%. There has been a growth between 2022 and 2024, moving from 38.55% to 43.03% and then to 46.14%, followed by a moderate decline in 2025.
The signal remains overall fairly solid, because repeat rate stays above the levels of 2022 and 2023, but the latest year does not confirm the continuous improvement seen earlier. For the supply chain, this means that the category is able to bring more households to purchase, but still needs to fully consolidate loyalty and the ability to bring consumers back with greater continuity.
Conclusion: a five-year expansion, but 2025 opens a strategic issue
Over the 2021-2025 period, the Italian blackberry market shows a positive evolution in terms of market reach and economic value. After the decline of 2022, the category recovered ground year after year, reaching in 2025 the highest level in the series for buyers, penetration, and value. This is the main strength: blackberries are becoming more present in Italian shopping baskets.
At the same time, the most recent two-year period highlights a crucial aspect. Between 2024 and 2025, the market grows in reach but declines in purchase intensity: total volume, volume per buyer, volume per occasion, frequency, and spend per buyer all fall. Value continues to increase, but it does so mainly thanks to average price, which posts double-digit growth in 2025.
The phase experienced by the category in the latest year can therefore be defined as extensive expansion not yet consolidated in quantitative terms. For the supply chain, the strategic priority no longer seems to be only attracting new buyers, a goal on which the market has delivered positive signals, but also increasing the average quantity purchased, strengthening frequency, and improving repeat purchasing. These are the KPIs on which the future maturation of the blackberry market in Italy will depend.
