The market for berries in Verona (Italy) is currently in a challenging situation, characterized by very high prices and limited shelf stock. The few available products do not present satisfactory quality, due to production and processing batches exceeding one week.
Another anomaly observed concerns the origins of the products, which vary even within the same brand. For example, raspberries come from Portugal, Morocco, and Italy, creating confusion among consumers. In Verona, the presence of a few brands highlights how the sector is dominated by a small number of players.
On October 15, 2024, the Berry Observatory analyzed 20 retail outlets of 20 different banners belonging to 14 supermarket chains in Verona. The examined banners included: A&O, Aldi, Conad, Despar, Dpiù, Esselunga, Eurospin, Famila, Galassia, iN's, Interspar, Iper La Grande I, Lidl, Martinelli, MD, Migross, Pam, Prix, Rossetto, Spazio Conad.
Assortment
In the visited stores, the berries category ranged from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5 SKUs, with an average of 3.3 SKUs per store. The assortment percentages in the stores were as follows: kiwiberry 5%; raspberries 75%; blueberries 95%; blackberries 70%; red currants 40%; berry mix 30%.
Product Range
25% of stores with berries in their assortment offered only one SKU, while 55% had four or more SKUs available.
Quality
Quality is defined as the health of the product, measured in terms of: absence of significant defects; healthy product but in less than ideal condition (not fresh, tired, wilted, dull, without bloom); presence of damaged fruits and juice; presence of rotten fruits and mold.
The groups with the best quality were identified as Aldi, Eurospin, Pam Group, MD, and Prix.
Retail Prices
Prices for berries are variable:
- Raspberries: average 22.91 €/kg (min. 19.56 €/kg – max. 27.92 €/kg)
- Blueberries: average 25.19 €/kg (min. 17.48 €/kg – max. 31.92 €/kg)
- Blackberries: average 26.20 €/kg (min. 20.64 €/kg – max. 31.92 €/kg)
- Red currants: average 21.30 €/kg (min. 15.92 €/kg – max. 23.84 €/kg)
- Berry mix: average 22.93 €/kg (min. 19.93 €/kg – max 25.20 €/kg)
A total of 79 observations were made with an overall average price of 24.21 €/kg.
| Retailer | Two-pack | Kiwiberry | Raspberries | Blueberries | Blackberries | Red currants | Three-pack | Total |
| Eurospin | 27,92 | 27,92 | ||||||
| Pam | 22,45 | 27,92 | 31,92 | 31,92 | 22,32 | 27,31 | ||
| Iper La Grande I | 24,95 | 24,73 | 31,92 | 26,32 | 26,98 | |||
| Conad | 19,56 | 31,12 | 28,72 | 26,47 | ||||
| Interspar | 21,92 | 27,92 | 28,72 | 23,27 | 25,46 | |||
| MD | 23,12 | 23,92 | 27,92 | 24,99 | ||||
| A&O | 22,24 | 23,84 | 27,84 | 23,84 | 23,20 | 24,19 | ||
| Despar | 24,00 | 24,00 | ||||||
| Galassia | 22,00 | 23,60 | 27,60 | 23,60 | 23,00 | 23,96 | ||
| Prix | 23,92 | 23,92 | ||||||
| Migross | 23,92 | 23,92 | ||||||
| Famila | 22,00 | 23,60 | 27,60 | 22,00 | 23,00 | 23,64 | ||
| Dpiù | 23,60 | 23,60 | ||||||
| Spazio Conad | 26,32 | 23,92 | 23,92 | 19,93 | 23,52 | |||
| Rossetto | 22,24 | 23,84 | 23,84 | 23,84 | 23,44 | |||
| iN's | 19,92 | 26,32 | 23,12 | |||||
| Esselunga | 19,84 | 24,56 | 26,24 | 23,60 | 18,24 | 25,20 | 22,95 | |
| Martinelli | 20,64 | 20,64 | 20,64 | 20,64 | 20,64 | |||
| Lidl | 22,32 | 18,72 | 23,92 | 15,92 | 20,22 | |||
| Aldi | 17,59 | 17,59 |
Brands
In the analyzed stores, there were berries from a total of 21 brands. Pam proved to be the brand with the highest average prices in the category.
The brand with the lowest average prices for blueberries was Camposol, followed by Aldi.
Packaging
88% of the SKUs for blueberries were sold in 125-gram packs.
