Editor’s Note: The following report is from The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023, which provides insight based on survey responses from consumers. Since 1983, The Packer has sponsored 40 major consumer studies to track trends in the purchases and consumption of fresh produce, documenting the fluctuation in purchases of specific fruits and vegetables as well as changing attitudes toward industry issues.
The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2023 survey found that 1 in 4 consumers (25%) said they purchased blackberries in the past year, compared with 26% in Fresh Trends 2022 and 28% in Fresh Trends 2021.
Higher income correlates with more frequent blackberry purchases, according to Fresh Trends data. Thirty-nine percent of consumers who earned more than $100,000 a year said they purchased fresh blackberries, compared with 16% for those making under $25,000 annually.
Prices for blackberries were up in 2022, according to USDA statistics. The average fob price for blackberries in 2022, the USDA said, was $13.94 per carton, up 4% from $13.41 per carton in 2021.
The average retail promoted price for blackberries in 2022 was $3.27 per unit, up 4% from $3.16 per unit in 2021. The number of stores promoting blackberries totaled 446,938 stores in 2022, down 32% from 654,798 stores in 2021.
