Although the typical Easter celebrations will be next Sunday, It’s been almost a month since chocolate flooded the supermarket shelves. This is strategic, he explained to Coffee and Business Pablo Malnati, TaTa Operations Manager: Easter is a harvest, like Christmas, Mother’s or Father’s Day, and the protagonists are a type of consumer, children, who are the ones who drive purchases.
With respect to 2022 on this same date, Easter egg consumption increased 8%he informed, although not the chocolate bars or chocolates, and this has to do with the temperature, he explained. The more heat, the less consumption of chocolatesaid.
last minute shopping
A well-known phrase is that Uruguayans leave everything to the last minute, and Easter shopping is no exception, Malnati commented. As he stressed, 50% of the sales of the harvest are given between Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Tourism Week.
From their perspective, the consumption of these products changed. Before, families chose to buy several smaller eggs, now they prefer to buy fewer, but larger ones, to share.
TaTa has a very diversified proposition, he said. It offers Brazilian chocolate bars from $49 and chocolate eggs whose prices range between $60 and $1,000, depending on the line. In addition, when defining prices, large stores must be “very strategic or ingenious,” said Malnati, since “Today, the penetration of contraband from Brazil and the exchange rate difference with Argentina plays a very trick on us”.
Bariloche chocolate and European truffles
Not only consumption changed, but also the variety of products. In the gondolas, in addition to the traditional Easter eggs, you can find other varieties such as tablets, chocolates and even truffles.
In the offer of Grupo Disco Uruguay are different lines of easter eggs from various countries.
Those imported from Argentina, made with Bariloche chocolate, decorated with icing and filled with chocolates, sell for between $159 and $455.
Those of the Garoto brand ($369) have an added value, highlighted sources from the supermarket, they are offered with a gift chocolate bar.
Its offer also includes brands such as Aplino, from Nestlé, Kit Kat, Serenata de Amor, Milka, Águila or Mantecol, which are sold between $399 and $599. And others, from the Premium lines, such as Lindt, Baci or Ferrero Rocher , which go for $799.
The cheapest are children’s, which “stand out for their very attractive presentations” and have prices between $67 and $237, they indicated.
As a complement, Disco offers a line of french chocolateswith milk or from 72% to 82% cocoa at $329 and an exclusive line of French and Spanish truffles between $199 and $299, depending on your presentation.
Belgian chocolate for the whole year
The variety is in line with the needs of consumers, for example, if they can eat gluten or sugar, or not. Kinder eggs, for example, stand out among others for being suitable for coeliacs.
In Tienda Inglesa, for example, “we are attentive to the requirements of the Uruguayan palate”, indicated from the supermarket team, for this reason, one of the novelties for this year are the no sugar added artisan chocolate eggs.
The artisan chocolate line also stands out among the English Store proposal for this year. Easter eggs, as well as white amber, bitter unsweetened, semi-sweet, milk or white chocolate bars -which will continue to occur throughout the year– are made with fine Belgian chocolate, they reported.
In turn, the handmade chocolate eggs are produced with a certified cocoa with the seal of the Cacao-Trace programwhich certifies that the supply chain is sustainable.
Tienda Inglesa offers everything from bunnies at $79 to the largest Easter egg, at $799. In the case of the handmade ones at Tienda Inglesa, prices range from $299 to $550 depending on the size. In addition, paying with Scotiabank Club Card credit cards, customers have access to an extra 25% discount on rabbits and Easter eggs, they highlighted.
Another option
In 2021, the CIPU began a promotional campaign for this product, with which it seeks to revalue it, and since then sales have increased, he commented. This has led more bakeries in the country to produce the typical rosca, each offering their own versions.
