The industry is enjoying a golden age of production and consumption, driven by the current health trend and profitability that remains high.
The national product is gaining market share and a greater availability throughout the year may further drive consumption and business for a great many companies.
In Italy, production is concentrated above all in the north but important growth is also being recorded in the south, where the production areas are located of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.
Product quality, particularly when imported, remains a negative point, whilst in terms of range and consumption the blueberry remains the key product even if blackberries, thanks to the health properties attested by important studies, would appear to be looking at a bright future as a “superfood”.
In the sector, a key role could be played by research and breeding, if work can be carried out on the development of new varieties in line with consumer tastes (piece size, taste, sweetness, acidity) but also those of the producer (territorial vocation, lengthening of the cultivation calendar, storage possibility).
The main industry players are driving on innovation with investments in new varieties (reflowering, resistant and increased shelf life), zero residues and environmentally-sustainable packs.
Increasing surface areas, particularly in the north, but costs weigh heavy on investments
The trend of increasing the cultivated surfaces seen in recent years also continued into 2021, recording +10% on 2020 (+29% on 2018) with almost 2,200 hectares cultivated in Italy.
Expansion programmes and new production sites are active in various regions, from the north to the south of the country.
Of all the species of small fruits, blueberries are the most common, covering almost 1,400 hectares (+9% on 2020).
Raspberries follow, having risen to approximately 400 hectares (+12%) and, further away by on the up, blackberries with just over 200 dedicated hectares. Finally come currents with around 180 hectares. Only gooseberry is cultivated marginally and to date has not really shown any development.
Production regions are dominated by Piedmont (the area of Cuneo and province of Turin) over the other regions (Veneto, Trentino and Lombardy), which together host 90% of the national surface area, but in the last two years, an increase has also been seen in production areas in the south (almost 100 hectares), in particular of raspberries (around 100 hectares).
As mentioned, currants and blackberries, although growing, are doing so at a slower rate than species more grown in the territories with greater vocation, such as Trentino, whilst in southern Italy, where supply is lesser, no significant increase is recorded.
Organic products also show growth (+15% annual average), even if the trend would appear to be slowing. In 2019, surface areas approached 600 hectares (source: SINAB).
In terms of the scope of the area organically farmed, Piedmont dominates, followed by Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Trentino Alto Adige.
The extent of the surfaces, both conventional and organic, would in any case appear to be slowed by the high costs of plantation (initial investment, time necessary to enter production, expensive commodities, etc.) and management, in terms of labour (particularly during the harvest, where mechanisation is difficult).
As regards abroad, producers’ attention worldwide is particularly focussed on blueberries, which are grown on around 120,000 hectares, with total production approaching 825,000 tonnes (6.9t/hectare) and expected it rise.
Rising imports and consumption
Progressive increase in purchases by Italian families, also driven by a health trend that would not appear likely to halt.
In the last year alone, raspberry consumption in Italy has grown by 60% whilst per capita blueberry consumption, which comes to around 300 grams and is on the up, is still a far cry from the kilogram consumer per capita in northern Europe and the 1.5kg consumed per capita in the USA.
Although growing in consumption, therefore, we in any case continue to lag behind and this suggests that there may be significant room for improvement, particularly for the national product preferred by our consumers.
Retail market interest is also confirmed by the growth of imports.
In 2020, around 17,400 tonnes of small fruits entered our country, particularly blueberries and raspberries from Spain and Chile, as compared with approximately 13 thousand tonnes in 2016.
Premium lines to increase customer loyalty and overcome impulse buying
There is plenty of room for improvement for berries, as long as certain problems are solved that are keeping the product somewhat on the back burner.
It is important to think that small fruits are still linked to impulse buying and to allow them to grow and become a regular purchase, investments are required in promotion, communication and optimisation at the stores.
The unknown factor of availability and quality also remains. Indeed, although motivated, buyers often experience difficulty in finding the product (often missing due to management issues) and when they finally do find it and put it in the trolley, they are later disappointed by the lack of freshness or flavour.
Consumer loyalty needs to be gained, creating familiarity in consumption and successfully overcoming the limits of seasonality.
Producers are well aware of this and are preparing to create premium lines offering qualitative continuity to the product 12 months a year.
National product increasingly appreciated, as long as production is deseasonalised
National growth of production can also be fostered by difficulties in importing linked to world logistics complications.
In the southern hemisphere, from where most products come that are out of season, problems brought about by a lack of labour for harvest and containers for transport have led to delays at the ports of arrival and product supplies.
The same applies to countries transporting the product by air (Argentina in particular) and that due to more expensive and less available flights, delay deliveries.
Zero residue products, plastic-free packaging and category projects to promote the product
Growth continues in the supply of zero residue products deriving from a type of cultivation that, starting from the application of sustainable agricultural methods, further limits the use of synthetic chemical products, using pesticides chosen from amongst those with the least environmental impact and the fewest residues.
Judging by the shelves, it would appear that the time is ripe to bring these plus points in terms of quality, safety and green attitude to the forefront for small fruits too.
After the success enjoyed with the zero-residue blueberry in plastic-free packaging – elected Product of the year 2022 in the blueberry category, Società Cooperativa Agricola Trentina Sant’Orsola has recently launched its first 100% Italian zero residue raspberry, marketed in practical 125-gram packs.
Grown in Sicily and Calabria, the zero-residue blueberry (giant American variety) has passed the rigorous controls of the certification body, recording pesticide residues below the minimum limit that can be quantified: less than 0.001 parts per million.
Apofruit has also taken action in respect of packs, having recently launched a new cardboard packaging format that is 100% recyclable with paper, able to preserve product integrity and, at the same time, maintain a low environmental impact.
It is an important step in the Group’s sustainability and development strategies, which will see great commitment in the five-year period 2021-2025 towards innovation, in particular variety innovation where, for small fruits, the spotlight is firmly on the Fall Creek blueberry and the Adelita raspberry.
Spreafico, leaders in the import and production of fruit and vegetables in Italy with more than 600 agricultural partners, is also looking to ensure greater visibility and presence of berries in their stores. It has now branded its products “iPiccoli” as part of a category management and shelf optimisation project offering three different assortments.
In this category, Spreafico partners 95 farmers (for a total of 150 hectares from the north to the south of Italy), which have chosen to put their trust in the fruit and vegetable group to launch or convert and develop their production of small fruits.
The company supports producers through production, cultivar choice and through to actual cultivation.
Thanks to this project, Spreafico can boast a 100% Italian production of small fruits, offering, for example, an Italian raspberry all year round.
For blueberries on the other hand, Spreafico is launching new projects. Starting 2023, in its owned agricultural companies in northern Italy and Latina, new production areas will be added with the aim of successfully supplying Italian products all year round, reducing imports.
Today, Spreafico can boast two processing centres dedicated to small fruits, one in Povegliano Veronese (VR) and one in Latina (LT), which allow the company to guarantee a distribution service throughout national territory. Here, the technology allows the company to supply a precise product, not only in terms of colour and degree of ripeness but also in respect of packaging, grams and weights.
The Berryway network, a national industry player, is also expanding its production, particularly in southern Italy, to manage to provide a quality product twelve months a year. At present, the partner companies produce raspberries, blueberries and blackberries on around 200 hectares, of which 160 in Piedmont and 40 in Apulia and Calabria and these surface areas are set to rise significantly over the next few years.
Berryway has brought the Primo Gusto line to the market, distributed exclusively through Esselunga, with a premium market position that is the result of the collaboration between producer and large retail.
