Easter egg sales boom

This Easter saw the biggest weekend in egg sales for more than 20 years. Sales of the traditional egg easily exceeded chocolate egg sales, with around a quarter of a billion eggs consumed during Easter week, up by around 50 million eggs on the previous year.

And this Easter, consumers shelled out for free range as sales reached their highest ever level. In fact, consumer spending on free range eggs this Easter beat sales of caged eggs.

Sales have been strong since the New Year as consumers turn to eggs as a low-cost protein source during the credit crunch. News that limits on eggs have been lifted by health experts have also helped boost their popularity. Concerns linking eggs to fears about high blood cholesterol levels and heart disease have been proven to be unfounded.

British Egg Industry Council Chairman, Andrew Parker, said: "After decades with the ’cholesterol cloud’ hanging over us, we now have a clean bill of heath on all fronts and it’s great to see that consumers are once again recognising the value of eggs, both nutritionally and economically."