In Padova, berries continue to confirm their strong appeal, but on modern retail shelves spring begins with limited supply and high prices. The survey by the Berry Observatory – carried out today, March 11, in 20 stores across 20 retail banners belonging to 14 distribution groups – depicts a category that remains solid, but with significant tensions especially for raspberries and red currants.
Rising prices and supply shifts
Blueberries remain the backbone of the assortment: they are available in 100% of the stores surveyed, with a total of 36 price checks and prices ranging between €11.67 and €31.92 per kilo, for an average of €18.7/kg.
Meanwhile, the seasonal shift is visible on shelves: Chilean fruit is gradually giving way to Spanish supply, with generally smaller pack sizes as availability remains limited and prices are rising.
The situation is much more complex for raspberries: 80% of supermarkets carry them, but supply is short, with shelves often partially empty and prices between €19.95 and €36/kg, for an average of €30.72/kg, the highest among all the categories surveyed.
The outlook for blackberries is more balanced, present in 60% of stores, with good availability but still firm values: between €18 and €27.92/kg, averaging €24.72 per kilo.
Red currants remain scarce and expensive: they appear in only 20% of stores, with four total observations and prices between €22.32 and €31.92/kg, for an average of €27.12/kg.
Berry trios, present in 30% of supermarkets, sit in a mid-to-high price range: between €19.93 and €30.6/kg, averaging €25.17/kg. Overall, across the 81 total observations, prices range from €11.67 to €36/kg, with a general average of €23.54/kg.
Compact assortment, Sant’Orsola dominates
From an assortment perspective, the category is present but not explosive: in the monitored stores there are between 1 and 6 SKUs, with an average of 3.7 per store. Five percent of supermarkets carrying berries offer only one SKU, 45% operate with 2–3 SKUs, while 50% reach at least four, indicating that the range expands mainly where the category receives greater focus.
Quality is considered good, with a very compact supply landscape: in Padua, Sant’Orsola clearly dominates as the main packer supplying supermarkets, a factor that helps ensure consistent quality standards but somewhat limits the variety of origins and brands on the shelf.
Overall, berries from 19 different brands were recorded; Almaverde Bio appears to have the highest average prices within the category, while for blueberries the lowest prices are recorded for Moderna srl, followed by Widmann.
Regarding pack sizes, the blueberry segment confirms the central role of the 125-gram punnet, which accounts for 47% of the SKUs surveyed, reflecting a positioning that remains strongly oriented toward “trial & snack” consumption rather than family-size purchases.
