Don’t tell me my Easter eggs are getting smaller again?
Sorry, we have no choice. Your Easter eggs are almost certainly getting smaller again thanks to the curse that is shrinkflation. And they are probably more expensive too.
Well, that’s not good – who can I blame?
The climate, international commodity markets and huge multinationals who will do whatever it takes to keep their revenues up.
So what is going on?
The cost of chocolate has jumped alarmingly due to higher input costs, poor harvests in west Africa, where much of the world’s cocoa is produced, and a warming planet which has forced growers everywhere to plant in more difficult terrain.
So by how much have prices gone up?
Earlier this year, cocoa was selling for just over $10,000 (€9,211) a tonne on global markets. That is more than four times the price it was selling for two years ago.
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What does that mean for my egg, though?
Well, according to British consumer watchdog Which?, Easter eggs are likely to cost up to 50 per cent more this year than they did last year, while many eggs are likely to be considerably smaller than they once were.
How much do they cost?
That very much depends on the egg but we looked at some popular options earlier this week and prices of around €7.50 for 200g of Easter-themed chocolate were not uncommon. That is more than twice what the same products would have cost five years ago.
Is there anything I can do to save a few bob?
Make sure to look out for special offers, particularly as Easter Sunday approaches. For obvious reasons retailers struggle to shift their eggs in the post-Easter period. So if you’re willing to play a game of chicken with your eggs you’ll get a good deal on Easter Sunday. Or maybe they’ll sell out, leaving you with nothing.
Heaven forbid. Do we buy a lot of Easter Eggs?
Last year more than a third of Irish consumers bought at least one egg, with a record €9.9 million spent on them in the seven days before Easter Sunday, up 22 per cent on 2023. Our total spend on the chocolatey treats this year is likely to soar beyond €30 million.
Why do we eat eggs at Easter anyways?
We thought you’d never ask. In times past, eating eggs during Lent was frowned upon but the chickens of the Christian world didn’t pay much heed to the rules and laid them anyway. The faithful had no choice but to set them aside. Confectioners in Britain began selling chocolate eggs in the late 19th century and there was no stopping it after that.
