The Small Fruit Observatory conducted on December 2 in Piacenza shows a market crowded with brands but with origins increasingly concentrated in just a few countries: blueberries come only from Peru, blackberries almost exclusively from Mexico (with some exceptions from Guatemala), and raspberries are now almost entirely imported, mainly from Morocco, with just a small tail of Italian production.
The shelves appear well stocked, with the last major promotions on blueberries in large pack sizes, blackberry prices dropping significantly, and raspberries remaining at high levels; redcurrants, which are scarce, are exclusively Italian and the quality is good across all references, with fresh batches from the last two to three days.
These are the main findings of the survey carried out today in the urban area of Piacenza (Italy), involving 18 stores of 18 retail chains belonging to 14 large-scale distribution groups.
The assortments were recorded in the sales outlets of the following chains: Aldi, Basko, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, ECU, Esselunga, Eurospin, Galassia, Gulliver, Il Gigante, In's, Ipercoop, Italmark, Lidl, MD, Penny, Sigma.
Assortment
In the small fruit category in the stores visited, there were from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 7 references, with an average of 3.8 references per store.
In the 18 stores visited where small fruits were present: 83% carried raspberries, 100% blueberries, 44% blackberries, 33% redcurrants, and 33% carried the Trio pack.
Range width
11% of the stores carrying small fruits had only a single reference; 39% had 2 or 3 references, while the remaining 50% of stores had 4 or more references.
Quality
Quality refers to the healthiness of the product, measured in terms of: absence of relevant defects; sound product but not in ideal 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 Aldi, Basko, Conad, Eurospin, Gulliver, Italmark, Lidl, Sigma.
Selling prices
Raspberries (20 observations): min. 15.04 €/kg, max. 29.44 €/kg, average 20.26 €/kg
Blueberries (38 observations): min. 7.96 €/kg, max. 23.92 €/kg, average 14.34 €/kg
Blackberries (10 observations): min. 19.84 €/kg, max. 29.20 €/kg, average 23.13 €/kg
Redcurrants (8 observations): min. 15.84 €/kg, max. 19.84 €/kg, average 16.67 €/kg
Trio packs (6 observations): min. 19.93 €/kg, max. 26.60 €/kg, average 23.12 €/kg
Overall total (82 observations): min. 7.96 €/kg, max. 29.44 €/kg, average 17.73 €/kg.
Brands
Across the stores visited, small fruits from a total of 24 brands were present.
The brand with the highest average prices in the category was Natura Matura. The brands with the lowest average prices for blueberries were Danper, followed by Widmann.
Packaging
42% of the blueberry references recorded were sold in packs of 125 grams net weight.
