Still high prices for raspberries (reaching €4.49 per basket), but poor quality due to low turnover. The batches are old.
The same issue affects blackberries, with high prices and old batches. Blueberries are performing better as Chilean supplies make way for the northern hemisphere. Moroccan blueberries are becoming more visible, while Spanish ones are still on the shelves. In general, high-quality blueberries are available at competitive prices with good promotions, also sold in 500-gram buckets that boost consumption.
This is the summary of the Berry Retail Monitor survey conducted today, March 11, in the urban area of Piacenza. Specifically, 19 retail locations were visited, under 18 different banners, belonging to 14 large-scale retail groups (GDO).
Stores visited: Aldi, Basko, Conad Superstore, Coop, Dpiù, ECU, Esselunga, Eurospin, Galassia, Gulliver, Il Gigante, In's, Ipercoop, Italmark, Lidl, MD, Penny, Sigma.
Assortment
Among the retail locations visited, the number of berry references ranged from a minimum of one to a maximum of seven, with an average of 3.3 per store.
In the 18 stores with berry assortments: 78% stocked raspberries; 100% stocked blueberries; 56% stocked blackberries; 11% stocked red currants; 28% stocked mixed berry packs (Tris).
Product Variety
6% of stores with berries stocked only one reference.
56% had two or three references, while the remaining 38% had four or more references.
Quality
Quality is assessed by product health, measured in terms of: absence of significant defects; non-ideal conditions (not fresh, wilted, shriveled, dull, lacking bloom); presence of damaged fruit and juice leakage; presence of spoiled fruit and mold.
Best-quality retailers: Aldi, Basko, Esselunga.
Retail Prices
Raspberries (14 observations): min. €23.92/kg – max €35.92/kg – avg. €29.95/kg
Blueberries (32 observations): min. €9.98/kg – max €27.84/kg – avg. €16.94/kg
Blackberries (10 observations): min. €19.04/kg – max €31.92/kg – avg. €25.80/kg
Red currants (2 observations): min. €31.84/kg – max €31.92/kg – avg. €31.88/kg
Mixed berries (Tris) (5 observations): min. €21.87/kg – max €33.27/kg – avg. €27.64/kg
Total (63 observations): min. €9.98/kg – max €35.92/kg – avg. €22.56/kg.
Brands
Across surveyed stores, berries from 24 brands were found. The brand with the highest average prices was Jolife. The brand with the lowest average blueberry prices was Cuna De Platero, followed by Southern Sun.
Packaging
53% of the recorded blueberry references were sold in 125-gram packages.
Average prices by retailer (€/kg)
| Retailer | Double-pack | Raspberries | Blueberries | Mix | Blackberries | Red currant | Three-pack | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italmark | 35,92 | 19,60 | 31,92 | 31,92 | 33,27 | 30,53 | ||
| Gulliver | 31,84 | 19,92 | 33,27 | 28,34 | ||||
| Sigma | 31,92 | 23,92 | 27,92 | 27,92 | ||||
| ECU | 31,92 | 23,92 | 27,92 | 27,92 | ||||
| Ipercoop | 31,84 | 15,92 | 27,84 | 31,84 | 26,86 | |||
| Eurospin | 28,72 | 16,95 | 27,92 | 23,27 | 24,21 | |||
| Basko | 31,92 | 15,92 | 23,92 | |||||
| Coop | 19,84 | 27,84 | 23,84 | |||||
| MD | 31,92 | 14,76 | 23,34 | |||||
| Esselunga | 27,84 | 22,90 | 19,04 | 23,26 | ||||
| Conad Superstore | 21,92 | 27,84 | 14,61 | 27,40 | 23,84 | 23,12 | ||
| Il Gigante | 16,48 | 23,20 | 23,84 | 26,53 | 22,51 | |||
| Galassia | 31,84 | 12,87 | 21,87 | 22,19 | ||||
| Penny | 27,92 | 13,94 | 20,93 | |||||
| Aldi | 19,92 | 19,92 | ||||||
| In's | 23,92 | 14,32 | 19,12 | |||||
| Lidl | 23,92 | 11,23 | 17,57 | |||||
| Dpiù | 14,32 | 14,32 |
