Perth families forced to ditch Easter traditions as price of chocolate eggs soar to ‘ridiculous’ levels

If you feel like your Easter egg basket is getting a little less bountiful and a lot more expensive this year, you aren’t imagining it. In what is fast becoming a grim seasonal tradition, the nation’s chocolate giants have doubled down, delivering a second consecutive year of shrinking treats and swelling price tags. Perth mother-of-four Kellie Elliott told The West Australian the soaring cost of Easter eggs has reached the point of being “ridiculous”. “It never used to be a big deal,” the 36-year-old said. “Easter eggs used to be so cheap, you wouldn’t really think about it too much. I went and did my Easter shopping last week and buying Easter eggs feels like a luxury now. “It is something you have to budget for now, whereas before I would just normally go last minute and grab the Easter eggs and the bunnies but now I actually had to forward think, plan for it and make sure I had money set aside.” Faced with a budget-breaking checkout total, Ms Elliott ditched traditional seasonal branded eggs entirely this year in favour of standard chocolate bars. “I actually opted not to buy the traditional Easter eggs this year and went with different kind of chocolate alternatives that are just so much cheaper,” she said. “So I brought like crunchies and Turkish delights and picnics and that sort of thing in the fun size chocolate bars instead of the mini eggs that I’d normally buy them.” Ms Elliott is not the only West Aussie getting creative to bypass the “Easter tax”. “I have seen some Instagram pages and stuff where people are buying chocolates and melting them down and creating their own eggs and stuff like that to save money,” she said. “Other mums that I’ve talked to as well, they can’t justify the price of buying Easter eggs this year.” In 2024, a cool $12.50 netted you a generous 24-egg haul. In 2025, $15 secured you 22 hollow choccy eggs. Fast forward to the present 2026 landscape, and that same purple box has been put through a corporate dehydrator — now holding a measly 20 eggs for the eye-watering price of $18. Ms Elliott traditionally purchased Cadbury’s hollow eggs for her families annual Easter egg hunt, but she said this year it just wasn’t feasible. “I was talking to my sister because we always do an Easter egg hunt with our kids and we’ve opted not to do it this year,” she said. “Instead we brought cheap little plastic eggs online and we’re filling those with lollies instead of chocolate eggs. It makes it cheaper and that way the kids can still have the experience of an egg hunt.” It is a masterclass in shrinkflation that has left consumers paying almost 73 per cent more per 100g than they were just two autumns ago. Investigative journalist at Choice consumer advocacy group, Liam Kennedy, has been researching shrinkflation for the past four years. He said consumers are fed up. “The frustration’s definitely there and there’s a bit of anger at manufacturers,” he said. “They sort of see it as something that’s a bit sneaky because it’s hard to spot and you can go on buying your favourite products without realising it’s happened and suddenly you’re getting less value for money than you were before. “This time of year especially when we’re expected to go out and buy chocolate eggs and people are obviously going ahead and doing that but there not too happy when they realise those eggs have shrunk and they’re having to pay even more for them than they would if they were a regular bar of chocolate.” However, Cadbury’s parent company, Mondelez, maintains there is nothing “sneaky” about the adjustments. “Like all chocolate makers, we are navigating significantly higher cocoa and input costs globally,” the spokesperson said. “Over the past two years, cocoa prices have reached record highs and remain above historical levels, making chocolate much more expensive to produce.” Manufacturers have perennially pointed to the 200 per cent spike in cocoa costs in early 2024 as the primary culprit. Yet, while commodity prices have finally crashed in recent weeks to near-2023 levels, the relief has not trickled down to the supermarket shelf. “This year, more than half of our Easter range is priced at $10 and under, with products starting from $1.80,” the Mondelez spokesperson said. “While we’ve made carefully considered adjustments to some of our products, Hollow Eggs are available in four sizes with packs adjusted to help manage cost increases while keeping products at key price points.” The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been flagging a need for greater transparency since 2025. During its recent supermarkets inquiry, the watchdog recommended a mandatory notification regime. “During our Supermarkets Inquiry, we heard a range of consumer and stakeholder concerns about ‘shrinkflation’,” an ACCC spokesperson said. “While unable to precisely quantify the extent to which shrinkflation was occurring in Australia, the ACCC did recommend that supermarkets be required to publish notifications when ‘shrinkflation’ occurs. “This information would, at a minimum, be required to be published in proximity to the product ticket on shelves, and on the webpage for the product.” Cadbury hollow eggs are not the only product raising eyebrows this Easter, with other beloved residents of the confectionery aisle also taking a hit. A 124g Freddo egg — which houses two tiny treats in its hollow belly — is hopping off Woolworths shelves for $11.50. That equates to $9.27 per 100g. If you were to purchase a standard 35g Freddo bar, you would pay just $5.71 per 100g. The luxury end of the aisle offers little sanctuary for the budget-conscious. While one might argue the $12 price tag on a 100g Lindt gold bunny is justified by the artisanal charm of a tiny red ribbon and a functional bell, other gift sets are harder to swallow. The brand’s 93g milk chocolate casket combo, featuring a medium egg and a dozen miniature versions, is currently retailing for $15. It’s a staggering markup for a product that weighs less than a standard $8.50 chocolate block but costs nearly double. New data from price comparison tool Zyft confirms the trend, finding the cost of Easter staples from Cadbury and Lindt has surged by as much as a third in just the last 12 months.