From Florence comes the confirmation that the origin of blueberries has officially become exclusive to the Northern Hemisphere, with Morocco, Spain, and Italy taking the lead. These same three countries are also the main sources of raspberries, while blackberries are still struggling to adapt to the new hemisphere and remain primarily produced in Mexico.
As for prices, blueberries are dropping and are more affordable compared to raspberries and blackberries, which remain very expensive.
Overall quality is not exceptional, despite the batches being relatively fresh (processed between Saturday and Sunday, editor’s note). The berries are in fact not very appealing and are soft.
This is the summary of the investigation on berries in the organized large-scale retail (GDO) sector in the urban area of Florence today, April 8, 2025. The study involved 14 retail locations from 14 banners belonging to 9 large-scale retail groups.
Specifically, the product ranges were recorded from Carrefour Express, Carrefour Market, Conad City, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospin, IN's, Ipercoop, Lidl, Pam, PAM Local, Penny.
Assortment
In the berry category, the visited stores had a varying assortment, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 7 product references. The average was 3.4 references per store. The availability percentages for each berry type were: raspberries 64%; blueberries 100%; blackberries 57%; red currants 239%; berry mixes 21%.
Product Range Breadth
The analysis showed that 29% of stores with berries offer only one reference. 21% offer two to three references, while 50% offer four or more.
Quality
Quality refers to the product's health, assessed by the following: absence of major defects; healthy product in suboptimal condition (not fresh, tired, shriveled, dull, lacking bloom); presence of damaged berries and juice; presence of spoiled berries and mold.
The groups with the best quality were found to be Coop, Esselunga, Eurospin, Lidl, Rewe.
Retail Prices
Raspberries (13 observations): min. €21.52/kg – max. €33.60/kg – average €28.62/kg
Blueberries (26 observations): min. €9.96/kg – max. €28.00/kg – average €19.23/kg
Blackberries (11 observations): min. €19.76/kg – max. €32.00/kg – average €25.71/kg
Red currants (4 observations): min. €23.92/kg – max. €31.84/kg – average €28.66/kg
Mixed berries (5 observations): min. €17.38/kg – max. €26.53/kg – average €22.60/kg
Overall average (59 observations): min. €9.96/kg – max. €33.60/kg – average €23.43/kg
Brands
In the stores visited, berries from a total of 20 brands were recorded. The brand with the highest average prices was Natura Matura, while Berry Easter and Onubafruit offered the most competitive prices for blueberries.
Packaging
62% of blueberry references are sold in 125-gram packages.
Retailers by decreasing average price (€/kg) of berries category
| Retailer | Two-pack | Rasperries | Blueberries | Blackberries | Red currants | Three-pack | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAM local | 33,60 | 24,30 | 32,00 | 29,97 | |||
| Carrefour Market | 28,00 | 28,00 | |||||
| Pam | 31,92 | 20,13 | 27,92 | 23,92 | 25,97 | ||
| Ipercoop | 24,90 | 27,84 | 19,72 | 27,84 | 29,44 | 25,95 | |
| Coop | 24,90 | 27,84 | 16,86 | 27,84 | 29,44 | 25,38 | |
| Esselunga | 28,37 | 22,96 | 23,84 | 25,20 | 25,09 | ||
| Conad Superstore | 30,24 | 19,00 | 19,76 | 31,84 | 23,48 | 24,86 | |
| Carrefour express | 21,20 | 28,40 | 24,80 | ||||
| Dpiù | 19,60 | 19,60 | |||||
| IN's | 21,52 | 15,92 | 18,72 | ||||
| Conad City | 22,16 | 14,16 | 19,76 | 17,38 | 18,36 | ||
| Penny | 15,92 | 15,92 | |||||
| Lidl | 12,84 | 12,84 | |||||
| Eurospin | 9,96 | 9,96 |
