No sooner is Christmas over than the shops start to fill up with Easter eggs. Yes, it's ridiculous, but true. However, Easter is now only three weeks away and as a result, you may be starting to give it some consideration.
Last year, we reported on how expensive Easter eggs were becoming. And it seems that this year is no exception. Indeed, according to research by mySupermarket, Easter favourites have shot up yet another 21% this year! Eek!
If you don't believe me, just take a look at the following table to find out how much your favourite Easter eggs have gone up by:
| Easter eggs | Price 2010 | Price 2011 | % change |
| Cadbury Mini Eggs (360g) | £3.82 | £3.93 | 3% |
| Maltesers & Friends Egg (312g) | £4 | £5.75 | 44% |
| Mars & Friends Egg & Bars (372g) | £4 | £5.75 | 44% |
| Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons Egg (101g) | £1.59 | £1.90 | 19% |
| Maltesers Easter Egg (88g) | £1.69 | £2 | 18% |
| Nestle Smarties Shaker Easter Egg (90g) | £1.61 | £1.93 | 20% |
| Galaxy Minstrel Egg (324g) | £2.50 | £6 | 140% |
| Cadbury Flake Egg (153g) | £1.48 | £1.75 | 18% |
| Galaxy All Block Collection Egg (577g) | £8.74 | £10 | 14% |
| Cadbury Twirl Large Egg (325g) | £3.33 | £5.50 | 65% |
| Cadbury Dairy Milk Large Egg (343g) | £3.33 | £5.50 | 65% |
Source: mySupermarket.
As you can see, some of these price changes are outrageous. The Galaxy Minstrel Egg is clearly the worst offender, having been priced at £2.50 last year but jumping to an enormous £6 this year. That's a mark-up of 140%! What a rip-off!
Cadbury Twirl Large Egg and Cadbury Dairy Milk Large Egg have also seen their prices rise significantly, increasing from £3.33 last year to £5.50 this year — a rise of 65%.
So why exactly have prices jumped by so much? Well, it all boils down to the soaring costs of cocoa and sugar. Higher production costs and the VAT increase haven't helped either.
Fight back
If you're hoping to buy a selection of Easter eggs for your loved ones, but don't want to pay through the nose, what can you do? Here are some top tips to fight back against rising prices:
Shop around
Firstly, always shop around! By using a website such as mySupermarket, you'll be able to compare the prices of a range of eggs at four of the major supermarkets — Waitrose/Ocado, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Tesco. That way, you'll know you're buying your Easter eggs at the best possible price.
The table below highlights how prices can vary from supermarket to supermarket on a selection of popular Easter eggs:
| Easter egg | ASDA | Tesco | Sainsbury's | Waitrose/Ocado |
| Green & Black's Organic Milk Egg (180g) | n/a | £6 | £5.50 | £6 |
| Cadbury Creme Egg Giant (532g) | £8 | £10 | £11 | n/a |
| Maltesers & Friends Egg (312g) | £5 | £2.75* | £5.50 | n/a |
| Thortons Classic Collection Egg (285g) | £3 | £6 | £5.50 | £6 |
| Nestle Smarties Shaker Egg (90g) | £2 | £2 | £1.80 | n/a |
*Offer valid until 5 April. Usual price £6.
So, as you can see, prices really do vary between supermarkets, so it's well worth doing your research first!
Take advantage of offers
Many of the supermarkets will have offers on their Easter products right now — and these are well worth taking advantage of.
For example, Tesco is offering three eggs for £3 on selected small eggs (£2 each). And ASDA is offering three eggs for £10 on selected larger eggs (£5 each). Sainsbury's is offering a buy one get one free deal on selected eggs, while Ocado has a range of eggs on a two for £8 deal (£6 each).
However, only take advantage of these deals if they are worth it. There's no point spending more money than you would do otherwise.
Deep discounters
Secondly, don't forget to check out deep discounters, such as Lidl, Netto and Aldi. These stores keep prices low by reducing shop overheads.
For example, you can pick up this fancy-looking Choceur Milk Chocolate Flame Egg (350g) at Aldi for just £2.99.
And if you're concerned that paying less means the quality of the product won't be as good, worry not! As we've proved in many of our taste tests, Lidl products often beat the big supermarkets!
Make your own
Another option is to make your own Easter eggs. This doesn't have to be difficult and can work out to be far cheaper! What's more, if you have kids it can be a lot of fun! Take a look at a great recipe here.
You can pick up Easter egg moulds from Lakeland for just £3.99 — these are reusable so it's a good investment! There's even a video on the site telling you how to use them!
Celebrate later
Of course, if you really wanted to save money and still celebrate Easter, you could celebrate it a few days later and pick up your Easter eggs in the sale! That said, these days, supermarkets do tend to withdraw their Easter egg offerings pretty quickly — so you might need to be super speedy if you're intending to buy your eggs in the sale.
Happy Easter!
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