Our supermarket food and drink inflation tracker shows that the price of chocolate has risen by 16.5% in a year - far more than the overall price of supermarket food and drink, which is up 4.4%.
This comes after a steep fall in global cocoa production started driving wholesale costs to record highs. One way manufacturers deal with high inflation is to cut the size of their products to minimise price increases, although supermarkets set the price on the shelves.
This practice of reducing the size or quantity of a product while maintaining the same price (or putting it up) is known as shrinkflation and effectively increases the cost per unit that you pay.
Read on to find out if your favourite Easter treat has shrunk and how supermarkets have adjusted prices.
Has your Easter egg shrunk?
We've found several examples of shrinking Easter treats this year.
An 80g pouch of Terry’s chocolate orange mini eggs was 99p at Lidl in the run-up to Easter last year. This year, it's not only more expensive at £1.35 (but still cheaper than several other supermarkets), it has also shrunk to 70g - meaning a rise of 56% per 100g. The same packet of mini eggs also shrunk at other supermarkets, but the price rise per 100g was less - 51% at Asda, 37% at Sainsbury’s and 14% at Tesco.
We also found a Twix white chocolate Easter egg at Tesco that had increased from £5 to £6 in the run-up to Easter this year compared to last but had also shrunk from 316g to 258g — a 47% jump in the price per 100g.
Nestlé’s Kit Kat Chunky milk chocolate Easter egg stayed the same price at Morrisons in the run-up to Easter year-on-year at £1.50 but was reduced in size from 129g to 110g, making it 17% more expensive per 100g.
It's not just shrinking Easter eggs that are a problem. Many of those that have stayed the same size have soared in price.
For example, a Cadbury Creme Egg 5 Pack Mixed Chocolate Box (200g) rose from £2.62 at Morrisons in the run-up to Easter 2024 to £4 this year (a 53% price increase).
Find out more:Everyday chocolate soars in price
Some everyday chocolate, including budget own-brand chocolate, also saw big price jumps.
Examples included Stamford Street Co. Milk Chocolate (100g) at Sainsbury’s, which rose from an average 50p to an average £1.03 (up 108% year-on-year).
And Asda Fruit & Nut Milk Chocolate (200g) went from £1.33 to £2.30 (an increase of 73% year-on-year).
Meanwhile, at Ocado, vegan and free-from snack NOMO Creamy Choc Buttons Share Bag (110g) jumped from £2.43 to £3.97 (up 63% year-on-year).
Which supermarket had the fastest-rising prices?
Our inflation tracker also looks at supermarket inflation across groceries.
It found that Sainsbury’s had the highest inflation overall - with prices up by an average 5.6% year-on-year.
Tesco was not far behind with inflation at 5.3%. Meanwhile, Waitrose had the lowest rate of inflation, at 1.8% year-on-year.
What's behind the price rises?
Which? approached all the supermarkets mentioned, as well as the manufacturers of the products that have shrunk in size, for comment.
Mars
A Mars Wrigley UK spokesperson said: 'We know that the cost of living is front and centre for families across the country, which is why we remain focused on providing great, high-quality snacks at the best- possible value for money.
'We will always absorb pricing pressures where we can, but rising manufacturing costs - driven in part by well-documented increases in the cost of cocoa - have meant that we’ve had to adjust some of our product sizes to minimise changes to list price, ensuring our snacks continue to deliver great quality and affordable value for families this Easter.'
Nestlé
A Nestlé spokesperson said: 'Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.
'As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible. To maintain the same high-quality and delicious products that consumers know and love, it has sometimes been necessary to make adjustments to the price or weight of some of our products.
'Retail pricing is always at the sole discretion of individual retailers.'
Ocado
An Ocado spokesperson said: 'With external factors continuing to push up the price of a range of commodities, we’re doing all we can to keep prices low for our customers. We also work closely with our suppliers to make sure pricing is fair without compromising on quality.
'We’ve already reduced hundreds of prices across our Big Price Drop initiative this year and continue to match more than 10,000 products to Tesco.com as part of the Ocado Price Promise; delivering a wide range of choice for all needs and budgets.'
Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose did not issue a comment. Nor did Carambar and Co., which makes Terry’s products.
Find out more:source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/is-your-easter-egg-smaller-than-last-year-aNCOs0T4bgec