Milan confirms itself as a benchmark market for the quality and freshness of berries, all processed within the last 2–3 days with excellent quality standards, except for some discount retailers.
According to the Berry Observatory in the modern retail sector, there are many brands, as well as many origins, from Spanish, Polish and Italian blueberries, to the first from Peru, imported blackberries and raspberries, and local production.
Prices are generally increasing, and even pack sizes larger than 125 grams remain on shelves, contrary to what usually happens at this time of year, indicating sustained demand.
This is the summary of the Berry Observatory carried out today, September 3 2025, in the urban area of Milan (Italy), covering 18 stores belonging to 18 banners of 16 retail groups.
The assortments of the following retail chains were recorded: Aldi, Carrefour Express, Carrefour Market, Conad, Esselunga, Eurospin, Il Gigante, iN’s, Iper La Grande I, Iperal, Ipercoop, Lidl, MD, Pam, Penny, Prix Quality, Tigros, U2.
Assortment
In the stores visited, the berry category featured from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 7 SKUs, with an average of 4.1 SKUs per store. The percentage presence of berries in stores was as follows: raspberries 83%; blueberries 100%; blackberries 72%; redcurrants 33%; mixed packs 22%.
Range breadth
None of the stores with berries in the assortment offered only a single SKU; 50% had two or three SKUs, while the remaining 50% had four or more available.
Quality
Quality refers to the product’s condition, measured in terms of: absence of major defects; sound product but in less than ideal condition (not fresh, tired, shriveled, dull, lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruit and juice leakage; presence of spoiled fruit and mold.
The groups with the best quality were identified as Aldi, Carrefour, Conad, Coop, Esselunga, Eurospin, Finiper, Gruppo Pam, Iperal, Lidl, Selex, Unes.
Retail prices
Berry prices vary:
Raspberries (22 records): average €21.63/kg (€15.92–26.24/kg)
Blueberries (36 records): average €16.11/kg (€9.98–26.24/kg)
Blackberries (18 records): average €15.83/kg (€12.64–19.95/kg)
Redcurrants (7 records): average €13/kg (€7.92–23.92/kg)
Mixed packs (6 records): average €22.25/kg (€14.98–24.60/kg)
A total of 89 records were collected with an overall average price of €17.59 per kilo.
Brands
In the analyzed stores, berries from a total of 29 brands were found.
The brand with the highest average category prices was Carrefour Bio. The brand with the lowest average blueberry prices was SanLucar, followed by Camposol.
Packs
53% of blueberry SKUs were sold in 125-gram packs.
