SHOPPERS have been warned the cost of Easter eggs has hiked by 50 per cent – even though “they’re getting thinner”.
Chocoholics looking forward to cracking open their Easter goodies this weekend might be in for a shock at the till.
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Which? has compared prices of the sweet treats at major supermarkets across the UK.
Researchers discovered while costs are soaring, shoppers aren’t necessarily getting any more bang for their buck.
At Lidl an 80g pouch of Terry’s chocolate orange mini eggs was just 99p last year, but now they’ll set you back £1.35.
And, the packet has actually shrunk in size to only 70g.
This was the case at fellow industry giants including Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Meanwhile, at Morrisons, Which? revealed a Cadbury Creme Egg 5 Pack Mixed Chocolate Box 200g had risen from a reasonable £2.62 to a staggering £4.
This makes a 53 per cent price increase per 100g year on year, despite the product size remaining the same.
Elsewhere, at Tesco, the experts found a Twix white chocolate Easter egg had risen in price by a quid, from £5 to £6.
But shoppers were disappointed to see it had decreased from 316g to 258g,
Similar scenes were spotted at Morrisons when fans noticed the Nestlé’s Kit Kat Chunky milk chocolate Easter egg shrunk from 129g to 110g.
While it remained the same price, the size reduction meant it was 17 per cent more expensive this year per 100g.
However, the worst hit products were not actually Easter chocolate goodies.
The biggest examples of inflation included Stamford Street Co. Milk Chocolate 100g at Sainsbury’s, which rose from an average 50p to an average £1.03.
This means shoppers can expect to see a 108 per cent rise year-on-year.
Which? also found Asda Fruit & Nut Milk Chocolate 200g went from £1.33 to £2.30 – an increase of 73 per cent each year.
At Ocado, experts discovered vegan and free-from snack NOMO Creamy Choc Buttons Share Bag 110g went from £2.43 to £3.97.
This equates to a 63 per cent hike year-on-year for the consumer.
Biscuits have also been affected, at Ocado, Which? found Daylesford Organic White Chocolate Dipped Lemon Biscuits 150g went from £4.10 to £7.50.
And at Waitrose Bahlsen Ohne Gleichen Milk Praline Wafer 125g went from £1.59 to £2.60.
Britain’s BIGGEST Easter egg
By Nawal Abdisamad
A CHOCOLATE egg as tall as a man and as heavy as THREE baby elephants has been unveiled — and it’s officially Britain’s biggest ever.
Weighing in at a whopping 300kg, “The Good Egg” is the largest and heaviest Easter egg ever made in the UK — and it was crafted in Kent.
It stands at a massive 7ft tall, measuring 4ft in width and a shell nearly 8cm thick.
Made by independent chocolate brand Cocoba, based in Kent, the enormous egg took five expert chocolatiers five full days to make and that was after the first attempt cracked under pressure.
The team had to go back to the drawing board after their initial mould broke while being removed.
On their second try, they split the egg into four sections, using molten tempered chocolate to glue it all together.
It was so heavy that it took five people to lift and assemble, with the help of six chunky 2kg chocolate stands to prop it up.
The idea began as a joke. After receiving a cheeky customer review encouraging the brand to “go heavier next year,” Cocoba founder Darren Litton laughed with his team, then challenged them to do exactly that.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously — but we do love a chocolate challenge,” Darren said.
“Once the idea took hold, we just had to go for it.”
Cocoba already has a reputation for giant treats, with their popular 2kg and 4kg Easter eggs.
But this time, they took things to the extreme.
The egg was coated in seven layers of chocolate and left for 24 hours to harden.
But the process wasn’t easy, with changing temperatures and humidity making the job unpredictable.
“Chocolate is temperamental,” said Lukasz Zajac, Cocoba’s head chocolate engineer.
“Air pressure, cooling time, and shrinkage all make it tricky when you’re working with something this size.
“It’s definitely one of my biggest achievements.”
The egg was created not just for fun, but to give back.
After Easter, it’ll be melted down into around 3,000 limited edition chocolate bars.
A portion of profits from those bars will be donated to local charities, to help support families facing the rising cost of living and soaring price of chocolate.
Overall, the supermarket giant with the highest inflation on their products was Sainsbury’s.
Which? revealed prices have gone up by an average 5.6 per cent year-on-year.
Tesco came in close second with 5.3 per cent, while Waitrose had the lowest rate of inflation, at 1.8 per cent year-on-year.
However, shoppers were thrilled to see a major supermarket offering cracking deal on large branded Easter eggs.
For a limited time, Asda shoppers can buy any large branded egg for £2.32.
This replaces the previous offer of four selected eggs for £11.96 (equating to £2.99 per egg), resulting in a saving of 67p per egg.
The latest deal beats all other major supermarkets including Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco.
The price drop applies to over 20 large eggs, including popular choices from Cadbury, Nestle and Mars:
- Cadbury Crème Egg Large Egg, 195g – now £2.32
- Maltesers Teasers Milk Chocolate Large Egg, 190g – now £2.32
- Cadbury Caramilk Golden Caramel Chocolate Large Egg, 183g – now £2.32
- Galaxy Minstrels Large Egg, 204g – now £2.32
It comes after choccie fans across the UK were issued an urgent warning about “skimpflation”.
As production costs soar, companies have been forced to turn this more subtle way of bringing down costs.
Inflation has hit chocolate sales hard and the market research firm Kantar UK and Ireland has uncovered some worrying trends in chocolate sales caused by this spike in inflation.
As prices rocket, shoppers have already begun switching away from treat-size snacks to season or multi-pack portions.
Inflation for seasonal pack sales has grown by 13 per cent and multi pack items have become 9 per cent more expensive, compared to the 24 per cent increase in treatsize snacks.
However, the increase in price has led to fears that shoppers may start to forgo chocolate permanently.
This has led chocolate manufacturers to attempt skimpflation tactics.
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don’t have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
Skimpflation involves adjusting the mixture of ingredients to reduce the amount of the more expensive ingredients.
This could involve diluting the amount of chocolate used by introducing more nuts into the recipe.
Cadbury has been accused of leading the trend, after launching a range of filled chocolates in March 2024.
They have also announced a partnership with Biscoff which will launch in 2025.
There is the more obvious strategy known as shrinkflation, which sees brands reducing the size of their products while keeping prices the same.
This backfired for the beloved chocolate brand Toblerone in 2017, when their shrinkflation plan coincided with a 7 per cent drop in sales.
When they reversed the decision a year later, sales quickly recovered.
As supermarket prices continue to rise, shoppers have turned to dupes of their favourite chocolate treats.
What is Skimpflation?
When production costs rise, brands often turn to “skimpflation
This is where the recipe for a food or drink item is changed to try and reduce production costs.
Despite the lowered production costs, shoppers still pay the same amount of money that they did before.
But shoppers still pay the same, or more.
It means shoppers won’t pay more when costs increase for the company making the item – but they will get less product.
Smaller products are easier for customers to digest compared to increasing prices, making it a popular option for manufacturers as it’s less noticeable.
Another tactic for businesses is “shrinkflation”.
This is where they reduce the size of their products, while keeping the buying cost level.
That means shoppers are buying less of the product for the same amount of money.
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