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Consumers shell out a fortune for chocolate eggs this Easter

Lihle Mtshali

Lihle Mtshali

Easter eggs are five times the price for less chocolate. That's what a snap survey carried out by Sowetan found.

An 110g Easter egg costs R30 compared with R6 for a 120g plain chocolate bar.

People are paying extra for unnecessary packaging, some of which cannot be recycled, a British investigation carried out by Northamptonshire County Council found.

The study showed that for every 10g of chocolate that consumers buy this Easter, they are also paying for an extra 6g of packaging.

British papers where shocked to discover that over Easter chocoholics are paying twice as much for eggs that contain the same amount of chocolate as an average bar. Our investigation found that South Africans are paying five times more.

Despite the high mark-up, shopkeepers enjoyed a rush for Easter eggs in the run-up to the long weekend. Buying an Easter egg proved to be a challenge yesterday, with only bare shelves left at Easter displays in grocery shops.

Parents pay these prices because their children demand it.

Louise McAuliffe bought a R30 egg for her niece and six eggs for her nephew. These had toys inside of them and set her back R60.

"I bought these eggs more for the toys inside than the actual egg," she said.

Easter eggs are handed out celebrate the Easter holiday. They are often hidden by the Easter bunny for children to find on Easter morning.

The oldest tradition was to use dyed and painted chicken eggs. But in modern times eggs are made of chocolate and are usually hollow, but are sometimes filled with sweets or toys.

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