Samantha Bartlett, Social News Assistant Editor, headed to Sainsbury’s for a browse of the supermarket aisles. However, she was left startled when she saw what price of two Cadbury Easter eggs were
With Easter still a while away, many shoppers are already raising eyebrows at the sight of Easter eggs lining supermarket aisles.
However, for a self-confessed chocoholic like myself, it’s an early treat that offers a chance to peruse the seasonal offerings (and perhaps indulge in a sample or two) well before the festivities kick off.
But during a casual stroll through Sainsbury’s yesterday, I was left utterly floored by the price tag on a couple of Cadbury eggs. While I’m accustomed to shelling out a few quid for my chocolate fix, maybe even a tad more for something special, the Cadbury Dairy Milk and White Marble Ultimate Easter Egg and the Mini Eggs Inclusions Ultimate Easter Egg carrying a hefty £15.50 price tag had me doing a double-take.
Yes, you’ve read correctly – fifteen pounds and fifty pence. It felt like a scene straight out of a slapstick cartoon as I confirmed the shocking figure.
And what exactly does one get for this princely sum?
Cadbury describes the Milk and White Marble Ultimate Easter Egg as a “creamy marbled Cadbury dairy milk and Cadbury white chocolate Easter egg with individually wrapped chunks”. Inside the 380g package, you’ll find one hollow egg alongside a few bars of white and milk chocolate – hardly groundbreaking stuff, if you ask me.
The Mini Eggs Inclusions Ultimate Easter Egg also features one hollow milk chocolate egg adorned with sugar-coated milk chocolate candies (10%) and a single bag of solid milk chocolate eggs encased in a crisp sugar shell. For the hefty price tag of £15.50, you’d expect perhaps a solid chocolate egg or maybe ten packs of chocolates to accompany it, not just an ordinary egg – a real letdown if there ever was one.
It’s all the more perplexing when you consider that the standard Cadbury Mini Eggs Chocolate Easter egg, weighing 193g, retails for a mere £4 at Sainsbury’s, and the larger XL variant, tipping the scales at 232g, is priced at £6 – both of which seem like fair deals. And then there’s the mini version and the small Dairy Milk Giant Buttons Easter egg, each 96g, going for £1.75, leaving many to wonder why anyone would fork out so much for these so-called ‘ultimate’ Easter eggs.
One thing’s for sure, I’m not about to choose the ‘luxury’ option any time soon. I’ll happily cling to my £2 chocolate eggs and save the remaining £13.50 for my other bills, thank you very much.
When contacted, a spokesperson from Mondelēz International said: “We understand the economic pressures that consumers continue to face and raising prices is a last resort for our business. However, as a food producer, we are continuing to experience significantly higher input costs across our supply chain, with ingredients such as cocoa and dairy, which are widely used in our products, costing far more than they have done previously.
“Meanwhile, other costs like energy and transport also remain high. This means that our products continue to be much more expensive to make and while we have absorbed these costs where possible, we still face considerable challenges.”
They further explained: “As a result, we are having to make some carefully considered list price increases across parts of our Easter range so that we can continue to provide consumers with the brands they love, without compromising on the great taste and quality they expect.”
Sainsbury’s has been approached for comment.