Customers baffled as stores begin to roll out Easter eggs
IT’S not even the twelfth day of Christmas but already the Easter eggs are on shop shelves in Northern Ireland.
It’s over five weeks until lent even starts, and Easter Sunday — when most of the chocolate is devoured — falls on April 4 this year.
That, however, hasn’t stopped any of the big retailers from stocking up on all the wellknown brands, just a matter of days into the New Year.
Remarkably, it’s not the earliest most people can remember seeing the confectionery eggs — in 2018 they were on the shelves in November.
But Easter may have added significance this year, with Prime
Minister Boris Johnson claiming in December that the UK will finally have got a grip on Covid-19.
Yesterday, at Home Bargains at Connswater Retail Park in east Belfast, where an aisle was full of Easter goodies, one shopper said she was surprised to see the wares on display so early in 2021.
“I can’t believe there are Easter eggs for sale already; I haven’t even finished my Christmas selection boxes yet,” she said.
Another said: “My decorations are still up and we’ve still got some turkey left... I can’t even think about Easter.”
But there were treats a plenty for those wanting to snap them up in most of the big Northern Ireland grocers including Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, M&S and B&M.
Indeed, large chocolate eggs had started to appear on the shelves of a number of high street chains as early as Christmas Eve, alongside smaller edible Easter offerings such as chocolate bunnies.
And there were sightings of a variety of Easter treats elsewhere, as marketeers muscle in four months ahead of the event.
Social media users have been posting pictures of chocolate eggs on the shelves of a number of supermarkets , with many commenting on how quickly they had appeared.
On December 31, one person wrote on Twitter: “I saw Easter eggs in store yesterday. The wise men haven’t even arrived in Bethlehem yet.”
Some even said they spotted them on sale on Christmas Eve.