Easter Eggs Already On Sale to Brits

Brits shopping in two big grocery chains, Tesco and Somerfield, have already found chocolate Easter Eggs on the shelves ... just days after Christmas.

If, like me, you have enough Christmas chocolates to last until 2011, you're probably wondering why we're already being encouraged to buy more holiday candy.

One puzzled shopper explained why the early sale of Easter chocolates seemed particularly odd:

We celebrated Jesus being born on Dec. 25 and just days later we're being sold chocolate to celebrate Easter.

The UK stores have defended their decision, saying that it's what their customers want. A Tesco spokesperson explained:

We'll be launching our Easter egg range much nearer Easter itself. What is available at the moment is a limited selection, for example creme and mini eggs, which is in response to customer demand.

What do you think - is it useful for parents to be able to stock up early, perhaps spreading the cost of the next holiday, or is this just a way for stores to sell us yet more candy, which we don't really need? How many of the Easter goodies purchased now will actually remain unopened and uneaten until April?

Sources:
Chocolate eggs filling British stores - UPI.com
It's New Year's Day... and Easter eggs appear on the shelves at Tesco - Mail Online

Written By Ali Hale on Jan 5, 2010

MORE: Weird, Britain, easter

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4 Comments

Ann on 01/ 5/10

I think people that buy and eat Easter candy now would probably be buying some other type of treat and eating it instead if these were not available. I doubt there is a significant increase in sweets consumed because of this.

Spectra on 01/ 5/10

It's the same thing as Halloween candy--people who buy it a month in advance aren't "stocking up" for the actual day; they're just eating it themselves up until then. Companies sell candy super early because they know people want to eat Cadbury Creme eggs in January, February, March AND April...not just a week before the actual holiday.

Ann on 01/ 6/10

I think the real difference is that the companies can sell this candy for much more than the regular stuff. $1.00 for a little Cadbury Creme egg or $1.00 for a king sized Snickers ... which seems like it has a bigger margin?

lynn on 01/ 7/10

my local cvs here in ct had the easter aisle set up before christmas!