Well-stocked shelves, with blueberry prices rising slightly but supported by numerous promotions and larger pack sizes, such as 500-gram packs. The fruit comes mainly from Poland, alongside the tail end of the Italian season and, in the premium segment, some products from Peru; late-season fruit from Romania is also available.
The situation is tighter for raspberries, with limited product availability and rising prices. Some batches are not particularly fresh and quality standards are not always impeccable. The picture is far more favourable for blackberries, with good availability, low prices, numerous promotions and very good quality.
Overall, the department features a wide variety of brands, with the main operators dominating the assortment. The overall quality of the fruit is good and the batches surveyed are fresh, having arrived within the past three to four days.
This is the key summary of the findings from the Berry Observatory survey conducted yesterday, 29 July 2026, in the urban area of Brescia. More specifically, the Berry Observatory surveyed 18 stores representing 18 retail chains belonging to 15 large-scale retail groups: Aldi, Conad, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospin, Famila Superstore, In's, Iper Tosano, Ipercoop, Italmark, Lidl, MD, Migross, Penny, Prix and Rossetto.
Assortment: 4.7 products per store
In the berry category, the stores visited carried between a minimum of two and a maximum of seven products, with an average of 4.7 products per store.
Raspberries were available in 89% of the stores surveyed, blueberries in 100%, blackberries in 89%, redcurrants in 33%, Bis packs in 11%, Mix packs in 6% and Tris packs in 28%.
Range breadth
None of the stores carrying berries had only one product on sale. A total of 22% offered two or three products, while the remaining 78% of stores carried four or more products.
Quality
Quality refers to the condition of the product, measured in terms of: absence of significant defects; sound fruit that is not in ideal condition (not fresh, tired-looking, shrivelled, dull or lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruit and leaked juice; and presence of spoiled or mouldy fruit.
The groups offering the best quality were Esselunga, Eurospin, Gruppo Pam, Lidl, Migross and Supermercati Tosano.
Retail prices
Raspberries (22 observations): min. €14.80/kg – max. €25.20/kg – average €20.27/kg
Blueberries (47 observations): min. €9.96/kg – max. €22.24/kg – average €13.92/kg
Blackberries (17 observations): min. €11.92/kg – max. €19.92/kg – average €15.04/kg
Redcurrants (6 observations): min. €11.92/kg – max. €19.84/kg – average €16.55/kg
Tris packs (5 observations): min. €19.87/kg – max. €25.20/kg – average €21.99/kg
Overall total (97 observations): min. €9.96/kg – max. €25.20/kg – average €16.14/kg.
Brands
The stores surveyed carried berries from a total of 25 brands. Natura Matura recorded the highest average prices in the category. Accademia Verde recorded the lowest average blueberry prices, followed by Sunberry.
Packaging
A total of 21% of the blueberry products surveyed were sold in packs with a net weight of 125 grams.
