In Italy, berries are much more successful with visitors than with indigenous people. Italians don’t consume any berries except strawberries, says Andrei Yarmak, an economist at the investment department of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on his Facebook page.

In a discussion with FAO colleagues in Rome, it turned out that in Italy there is practically no habit of eating berries, with the exception of garden strawberries. An Italian employee said he had never bought any fresh berries except strawberries. He did not see the point when eating fruits such as cherries, peaches, apricots, etc.

Many residents of a sunny country believe that it is pointless to purchase such expensive products in such small quantities. You can buy fruits of more impressive sizes and eat them.

Italians occasionally acquire frozen berries for making smoothies or for other processing at home. But they consider fresh they are expensive and, in principle, have no idea what to do with them, says Andrei Yarmak.

Foreign guests settled in Italy spend money on berries much more often than Italians themselves.

Andrei Yarmak reports that now he is not surprised by the fact that Italy lags behind in the production of berries, especially in the cultivation of such a popular berry as blueberries. They just did not understand in time that this was a trend, and therefore in Italy mainly imported berries, the economist concluded.