In Italy, more than one in 5 families has bought blueberries in the last year according to the data presented by Marco Pellizzoni (Commercial Director - Consumer Panel & Services, GFK Italia) at the Italian Berry Day. Blueberries are the most important product in the category. of red fruits and in Italy in the last year they reached a retail turnover of more than 86 million euros, which is equivalent to almost 1,7 million euros per week.

Blueberries represent 65% of sales in the category of red fruits.

Source: Italian Berry su data GfK

The total value of blueberry sales grew 29,9% , mainly thanks to the increase in the quantities bought by Italian families, equivalent to almost 7300 tons (+ 25,7% annually). This means that the more than 5 million families in Italy who buy blueberries at least once a year consume on average just less than a 125 g basket per month (1380 g per year).

A key determinant of increased consumption has been the increased penetration , that is, the number of families that buy blueberries at least once a year. In fact, in 12 months it went from 4,3 million families (16,6% of the national total) to 5,3 million (20,2%), with an increase in penetration of 22,1%.

This increase is particularly significant when read in conjunction with the stability of the average purchase level which generally falls a bit when we witness such strong increases in stocks; in fact, new buyers are often low-volume buyers.

Regarding the purchasing behavior of households, the annual quantity of 1380g of blueberries is determined by the frequency of purchase and the volume purchased for each ticket to the point of sale. Purchase frequency increased from 5 to 5,4 times a year (+ 9,3%), while the average quantities per purchase decreased from 270g to 250g (-5,9%).

The combined effect resulted in a 2.8% increase in quantities annual average purchased by household. In other words, although blueberries were purchased in less quantity for each expense, the increase in the number of purchases per year more than offset this negative trend.

As a final figure, it should be noted that this entire growth scenario has occurred at despite a slightly inflationary context In fact, the average price of blueberries increased by 3,3%, from € 11,10 / kg to € 11,47 / kg.

GfK's Marco Pellizzoni told Italian Berry Day that:

“THE GROWTH OF BLUEBERRIES IS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING COMPARED TO THE GENERAL TRENDS OF ITALIAN MASS CONSUMPTION.”