Easter eggs already on the supermarket shelves
Last updated at 14:38, Friday, 31 December 2010
SHOPPERS thought Easter had come early after they spotted chocolate eggs on sale in supermarkets.
Tesco Extra in Barrow and Co-op stores across Furness have begun selling Easter eggs early this year – three months before the Christian holiday.
Tesco said Cadbury’s crème eggs are popular between Christmas and New Year.
But at the store in Hindpool Road, Barrow, shelves are also lined with Lindt and Thornton’s eggs.
Tesco’s seasonal confectionary buyer James Waugh said: “Cadbury’s crème eggs are one of the UK’s favourite pieces of confectionary.
“We think they could possibly also be the biggest selling, if they were on sale all year round.
“Unfortunately for their huge army of fans crème eggs are only available from January 1 until around Easter time.
“That’s why we see a huge clamour for them as soon as they go on sale.
“We think that at least for the week between Boxing Day and the start of the New Year they will be our most in-demand chocolate treat.”
The Reverend Allan Mitchell, vicar at Dalton’s St Mary’s Church, said Easter should be about remembering the sacrifice Jesus made – and not about chocolate eggs.
He said: “The commercialisation of religious holidays like Easter and Christmas has gone a bit daft.
“There has always been tension between religion and materialism, but Easter is about celebrating God coming to man and saving him and putting him on the path through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.”
Cadbury’s crème eggs, which are sold for around 50p each, were launched in 1971 and are popular around the world.
Annual UK sales are in excess of 200 million eggs, with a further 100 million exported around the world.
Despite its size the crème egg is a giant among Easter eggs.
It is the most popular chocolate single in unit sales between January and Easter – achieving one third higher sales than the next biggest chocolate product.
An incredible 1.5 million crème eggs are made each day at the Cadbury factory in Bournville, Birmingham, and if you piled all the crème eggs made in a year on top of each it would be 10 times higher than Mount Everest.
First published at 13:16, Friday, 31 December 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Darren
It's free publicity for Tesco and Kraft!
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Have your say
It's absolutely too early, same as it's too early when they put the Christmas items out - and there's many people agree. It really spoils the actual event as you become jaded to it by the time it arrives. It emphasises the commercial aspect of the event, and puts pressure on parents when their kids see things they want way before time. It also forces you to buy earlier than you want to, as often things that sell out aren't replaced. We'd rather have a wider range of standard goods for longer. Please - keep our celebrations special by celebrating them at the right time!
Posted by Suzie on 10 January 2011 at 14:04