Shrinkflation takes a bite out of Easter eggs as shoppers pay more for less
Shoppers are shelling out for smaller eggs again this Easter as shrinkflation takes another bite out of the favourite seasonal treat.The price of popular branded chocolate eggs has risen by more than 40% in some cases while some have also shrunk in size, according to research by the consumer champion Which?.At Asda, this year the Galaxy milk chocolate extra large Easter egg is £5.97 and weighs in at 210g.That compares with £4.
98 for a 252g egg in 2025 – a 44% increase in the price per 100g.Tesco is selling the same egg at the higher price of £7, £1 more than last year.In another example from Asda, Which? found the M&M’s Crispy Easter egg has shrunk from 192g to 156g this year while the price has risen by 49p to £3.97, a 40% increase per gram.In Tesco, Which? found a Maltesers milk chocolate Easter egg had slimmed down from 231g to 194g but gone up in price from £6 to £7 – meaning the unit price per 100g had gone up by 39%.
At Morrisons, Which? found a Cadbury Mini Eggs milk chocolate Easter egg had gone from £4 for 193,5g last year to £5 for 181g this year, making it 34% more expensive per 100g,Also at Morrisons, someone has taken a bite out of the Toblerone The Edgy Egg milk chocolate Easter egg with truffles,It cost £14 for 298g last year; now it is £15 for 256g, making it 25% more expensive per 100g,Chocolate has been getting more expensive for several years because of poor harvests in west Africa, in particular Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where more than half of the world’s cocoa beans are harvested.
While cocoa prices have fallen back from a peak of more than £9,000 a tonne at the end of 2024 to about £2,000 a tonne now, between January 2024 and January 2026 cocoa cost at least double the current level.Confectionery companies say they have swallowed some of the cocoa price hit, but the magnitude of the increase has resulted in higher prices on supermarket shelves.Which? tracks 25,000 products sold by the major supermarkets.This data shows that while overall food and drink inflation slowed to 3.9% in February, the cost of chocolate is up 9.
7%, driven by ongoing global supply issues,A spokesperson for Mars Wrigley, which owns the Galaxy, M&Ms and Maltesers brands, said: “We always aim to absorb rising costs wherever possible,However, ongoing pressures, including the well-documented rises in the cost of cocoa, mean we have had to make carefully considered changes,As with all our products, final pricing remains at the discretion of individual retailers,”With shoppers getting less bang for their buck, Reena Sewraz, the senior money and retail editor at Which?, said: “It’s disappointing to see Easter treats aren’t safe from shrinkflation.
Manufacturers are quietly giving shoppers less for more, so it’s no wonder people feel cheated.”She added: “To ensure you’re getting a fair deal, always check the ‘price per 100g’ on the shelf-edge label rather than just the headline price.This is the only way to accurately compare different brands and sizes.”
Farage backs Tory attack on Muslim iftar event, saying public prayer ‘was a shock’ – UK politics live
Q: [From Peter Walker from the Guardian] Yesterday you backed what Nick Timothy said about the Ramadan event in Trafalgar Square. What was your objection to it? Yesterday your party said it was a segregation matter. This morning the party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, said it was a general point about prayer in public. But in an article this morning Timothy said this was a specific point about Islam. What is the party’s position?Badenoch says they are both right
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Abandon hope all ye who enter here. You’d have thought this would be the very definition of futility. An act of defiant nihilism. A few weeks ago Kemi Badenoch had declared that the Tory candidate for Gorton and Denton, Charlotte Cadden, had been the real winner despite getting under 2% of the vote and losing her deposit. Now Kemi was to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign in the certain knowledge the end result would be electoral wipeout
Kemi Badenoch backs Nick Timothy after he calls Islamic public prayers ‘act of domination’
Kemi Badenoch has backed her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, after he claimed that Islamic prayers taking place in public are intimidating and un-British, with Labour saying the Conservatives had embraced the “gutter” politics of prejudice.The row began after Timothy posted images on social media of prayer at a Ramadan event in London’s Trafalgar Square, saying mass prayer in public places was “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.After heavy criticism, including from Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, who attended the event, Timothy doubled down on his views, writing in the Daily Telegraph that such an expression of a non-Christian faith was a “challenge” and a call for replacement.After a speech to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign in London on Thursday, Badenoch was asked if she agreed with Timothy, or with arguments from other Tories that the main worry about the event was about prayers being separated for women and men.“They are both correct,” Badenoch said
Ban corporate donations to UK political parties to protect elections, says thinktank
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Labour should go into the next general election promising to rejoin the EU, Sadiq Khan has said.The mayor of London has repeatedly made the case for joining the customs union and single market, but went much further on Wednesday night by suggesting the party should promise full membership at next ballot.“We should, as a Labour party, fight the next general election with a clear manifesto commitment, a vote for Labour means we would rejoin the European Union. I think it’s inevitable,” he told the Italian publication La Repubblica.Khan cited the time that had passed since the referendum and the economic instability caused by Donald Trump since Labour was elected in July 2024 as reasons why it would be desirable
Angela Rayner’s allies say HMRC inquiry set to be resolved before May elections
For months there has been an apparently insurmountable obstacle to Angela Rayner going for the Labour leadership, should Keir Starmer find himself facing a contest.The investigation by HMRC into the former deputy prime minister’s tax affairs has hung heavily over her since she was forced to resign last September over underpayment of stamp duty on her seaside flat.But now Rayner’s allies are increasingly confident that the inquiry will be resolved before the May local elections – a moment of high peril for the prime minister – paving her way for a full return to frontline politics.The Guardian understands that outstanding legal issues over the tax investigation are being ironed out by lawyers and the HMRC process is now approaching its conclusion.Rayner is also on course to make about £100,000 from speaking engagements since she left government and her memoir, meaning she has earned enough to pay off her outstanding tax bill
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