Easter Sunday might’ve come and gone, but its remnants linger, be that in the shelves of chocolate Easter eggs that shops are still trying to get rid of or in my fascination with the traditions of the holiday. And that brings me to the question – why chocolate Easter eggs?
This Easter there have been plenty of articles about rising chocolate prices, due to climate change caused by cocoa shortages and inflation, and the effect of this on our precious Easter eggs, but I’m just left wandering – where did chocolate Easter eggs originate?
The egg part of chocolate eggs developed out of the egg being one of the main symbols of Easter in pagan traditions, representing rebirth and fertility.
According to English Heritage, eating eggs during Lent was band in the medieval period and eating an egg on Easter Sunday was a good way for Christians to break Lent, especially for households that couldn’t afford meat. Eventually this evolved into a tradition of exchanging eggs during Lent, then, along the way, into eggs made from sugar paste or marzipan filled with candy.
Though there is record that Edward I decorated Easter eggs in 1290, it wasn’t until the early 19th century that chocolate Easter eggs were created in France and Germany. British historic records show that the first chocolate egg sold in the UK was sold in 1873 by J.S. Fry & Sons Limited, a company that then later merged with Cadbury.
That brings us to today where roughly 80 million Easter eggs are bought in the UK every year.
Still the legacy of the chocolate Easter egg is in question. In 2026 Which? is reporting that popular chocolate eggs have risen in price by 40% since 2025. This is partly due to the rising costs of chocolate which has been caused by shortages in cocoa due to climate change. As such many companies are resorting to cocoa alternatives.
The companies that do continue to use cocoa are trading in a highly exploitive industry. The majority of cocoa is farmed in West Africa where its farmers are left in poverty and see very little profit despite the high prices of Cadbury and Lint. But even the profits they do see have been reduced significantly with the uptake in cocoa alternatives. Hundred thousands of tonnes of cocoa currently waits in warehouses for buyers.
So, what is the legacy of the chocolate Easter egg? Rebirth and celebration? Or a reminder of exploitation and economic unrest?
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