Charging eggstra... for less chocolate

MANY of the nation’s favourite chocolate Easter eggs have shrunk but the cost of them has not fallen to match.

The biggest shrinking eggs are made by major brand Cadbury, with many of its favourites down by seven per cent.

They include large Crunchie and large Creme Eggs, which have fallen from 278g to 258g this year compared to last year, while Heroes eggs are down from 274g to 254g, Twirl from 282g to 262g and Double Decker from 307g to 287g.

The recommended retail price for these products has fallen from £6.15 to £6, but this is not enough to meet the reduction in size.

Cadbury’s bags of Mini Eggs are down from 421g last year to 385g now, but still cost £4. In 2017 they were 460g, which means they shrunk by 16.3 per cent in two years, or 24 fewer eggs a bag.

Tubes of Mini Eggs are also down from 103g to 96g, while Creme Egg Minis have stayed at 89g this year although their price has gone up from £1.20 to £1.49.

Rival brand Thorntons has kept its eggs and bunnies at the same size as last year but has put up most of its prices.

Its dark chocolate egg is still 265g but has gone up from £6 last year to £7, while its milk chocolate bunny, 200g, is up from £5 to £5.38. By contrast, Nestle has kept its mini egg brands at 90g for £1 this year. Its medium-sized Easter eggs for KitKat Chunky, Smarties, Aero Bubbles and Rolos have also stayed the same size and price.

A Lindt Gold Bunny in milk and dark chocolate has stayed the same size and price, at £2.50 for 100g and £4 for 200g.

A spokeswoman for Ferrero, which owns the Thorntons brand, blamed the price rise on “difficult economic conditions”.

She said: “In common with many other manufacturers we are currently facing difficult economic conditions, driven by exchange rate fluctuations and the rising price of raw materials. We work hard to limit passing on extra costs to customers but we have now found it necessary to share a proportion of these with retailers.”

A spokeswoman for Mondelez, which owns Cadbury, said: “Like all food manufacturers, we sometimes have to make changes to ensure that people can continue to buy their favourite Easter treats at affordable prices.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure we’re still offering families great value for money across what we believe will be a popular product this Easter and as always, retailers are free to set their own prices.”

Adam Helliker is away