Cracking the cost: With the price of Cocoa falling why is it that Easter egg prices have risen by as much as 200%

Customers still looking to buy eggs this weekend maybe left shelling out a fortune.

Even though cocoa prices have reduced by a third, some Easter eggs have as much as trebled in price over the past year, according to research by comparison website mySupermarket.

At Tesco, its own brand 200g Milk Chocolate Egg Hunt Bag doubled in price from £1 to £2 and the Creme Egg has increased from £1 in 2011 to £2.50 in 2012.

At Sainsbury’s, the Kinnerton Hello Kitty Egg and Buttons have trebled in a year to £3, with the Cadbury’s medium Creme Egg increasing from £1 to £3 at Sainsbury’s in just a year, along with its popular Dairy Milk Caramel Egg and Flake Egg.
This is due to a growing uncertainty in the cocoa bean market, with producers blaming droughts for causing beans to shrink, putting off buyers. There are also claims that supermarkets are unfairly hiking prices.

A huge increase in demand in the Chinese market will also add to the shortages, meaning prices could increase even further over the weekend.