BIG PICTURE

How do shops get choc-full of Easter eggs?

Birmingham, England

Easter is in early April this year, but the shops have been choc-full of Easter eggs for weeks already. It’s big business. The global Easter eggs market size is estimated to be worth an estimated US$4.6bn.

The supply chain cycle for chocolate eggs begins roughly eight months before Easter Sunday. It’s complex, too, with ingredients including cocoa Powder, sugar, fat and oil. After moulding, finishing, decorating and packaging, eggs are stored in refrigerated warehouses, ready to be distributed to outlets including supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery stores and specialty stores.

One of the biggest producers of Easter Eggs is Cadbury’s Bournville factory in Birmingham. The chocolate egg market is worth around £200m a year in the UK alone.

Cadbury’s Creme Eggs move down the production line