Mega, extra chunky and luxurious: how Easter eggs roll in 2024

At Easter, people used to get excited if theirs came with a mug and a bag of sweets but those days are over, with social media stoking demand for talking point “mega eggs” in fancy shapes and exotic flavours. The choice is no longer just about the type: think “blonde”, “strawberry-white” or “pistachio” flavour chocolate not bog-standard milk, dark and white. There is also a race to create the thickest and, ergo, most luxurious shells. Hotel Chocolat’s “extra thick” £29.45 eggs, for example, boast a shell so “supremely chunky” as to make dentists shudder. With the Easter holiday almost upon us, the retailer’s website has also sold out of its “lavishly thick” 1kg Ostrich eggs, which cost £85. With the amount spent on chocolate at Easter second only to Christmas, the big players Cadbury, Mars and Nestlé have all produced super-sized eggs for about £10 that tap into what analysts said was the fastest growing part of the market in 2023. “We’ve certainly noticed a huge increase in customers looking for special, statement Easter eggs,” says Holly Thomson, the food editor at the online retailer Sous Chef, which has sold out of £60 “giant luxury” eggs made by the Italian...

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