News
Cadbury has officially shrunk its Easter eggs
By Joanna Sarah-Freedman
15 Feb 2023
3m
In case you missed it, chocolate Easter eggs have been lining the shelves since January (we simply can’t wait for a food themed celebration here in the UK).
But what you might not have noticed is that a lot of Cadbury’s offering seem to be the same price as last year…but smaller in size.
Yup, looks like another case of shrinkflation…
Several Cadbury Easter eggs are smaller this year (Credit: Cadbury)
READ MORE: Cadbury Flake bars don’t melt like normal chocolate – here’s why
In new research from The Sun, it has emerged that small, medium and large Easter eggs from Cadbury have all reduced in weight, whilst prices don’t seem to have budged.
To give you an example, the newspaper states that large Dairy Milk eggs cost a fiver, like last year, but they’ve shrunk from 286g to 245g.
A medium Wispa egg weights 182.5g, down from 224g this year, but the price is staying put at £3. Meanwhile, if you’re opting for a large Cadbury Flake egg, it now weighs 231.8g, down from 249g but remaining at £5 in cost.
Perhaps the most jarring of the bunch, a Dairy Milk Freddo Faces Easter egg has now reduced in weight from 122g to 96g, however it costs £1.25 as supposed to £1 – a price jump, despite the reduced size.
Reacting to the news on social media, one Cadbury fan wrote: “More packaging than chocolate. Not worth buying… even creme eggs have shrunk!”
Whilst another threatened to boycott the brand: “Don’t buy Cadbury’s then,” she said after noticing the size decrease.
Is your Easter egg feeling the pinch? (Credit: Cadbury)
Speaking of the Easter egg downsizing, consumer expert Sarah Coles of Hargreaves Lansdown told The Sun: “The horrors of shrinkflation are turning Easter eggs into mini eggs.
“We’re spending significantly more in return for less chocolate. It feels particularly unfair to those on lower budgets, who are trying to keep everyone happy this Easter without breaking the bank.”
What is shrinkflation?
Shrinkflation is basically when products get smaller in size, but prices stay the same, meaning you get less bang for your buck.
Prior to their Easter eggs, an obvious example was when Cadbury reduced the size of its Dairy Milk bars by 10 percent last year, without altering the price.
Dairy Milk previously fell victim to shrinkflation (Credit: Alamy)
READ MORE: Cadbury finally reveals mystery bar flavours
A spokesman said: “We’re facing the same challenges that so many other food companies have already reported when it comes to significantly increased production costs – whether it’s ingredients, energy or packaging – and rising inflation.
“This means that our products are much more expensive to make.
“We understand that consumers are faced with rising costs too, which is why we look to absorb costs wherever we can, but, in this difficult environment, we’ve had to make the decision to slightly reduce the weight of our medium Cadbury Dairy Milk bars for the first time since 2012, so that we can keep them competitive and ensure the great taste and quality our fans enjoy.”
