Some shoppers are opting for smaller Easter eggs this year due to price increases. Photo: 123RF
Easter is just around the corner, but you might find your shopping trip for chocolate costs a bit more this year.
Infometrics economist Brad Olsen did some analysis, and worked out that this year's chocolate bunnies and eggs would cost 10 percent more than last year.
But independent chocolate makers said they were doing their best to hold off passing the cost on to their customers.
A basic 100 gram hollow Easter egg starts at $2.25 at The Warehouse.
A Cadbury egg at Countdown cost $4 while a luxury handmade chocolate egg this year would cost as much as $26 at an independent chocolate shop.
And as the cost of living soars, shoppers are being picky.
"[I'm] bypassing the mega eggs on the ends of the isle, and just being a bit more conscious about what I buy," one shopper said.
"They're definitely more expensive than they have been, but everything is," another said.
One shopper said she would only be giving small eggs to her grandkids this Easter, along with some money - instead of splashing out on an expensive easter treat.
"When you're finding a packet of Easter eggs and it was $19.99, I thought nah."
Olsen said there were multiple factors pushing the prices up.
"It's not just your raw material inputs that are going up, in terms of food products themselves, but it's everything else along the supply chain, including transport but also things like packaging, which are forcing these prices to go higher and higher."
He said this would likely change the choices people made when stocking up on Easter chocolate.
"Either by reducing the amount purchased, maybe going for quality over quantity, or in fact by looking at some of those cheaper brands and figuring out how to keep the same amount of chocolate going."
Bennetts is a family-run business specialising in handmade chocolates made from sustainably grown, ethically sourced cocoa.
Easter bunnies this year range in price from $20 for 130 grams to $59 for 600 grams.
General manager Emily Bennett said, while the company had felt the pressure of extra costs, customers probably would not notice a price hike.
"I think about three items we decided to increase this year, just due to general inflation overall, but we kind of absorbed the costs ourselves this year rather than trying to pass it on to the customer."
Customers during Easter would often buy a few smaller chocolates to save money, she said.
The owner of Devonport Chocolates, Sarah Gardner, said her company had chosen not to put prices up for Easter this year.
"We want everybody to be able to enjoy and celebrate Easter."
But she said increased supplier costs meant they would have to put up prices eventually.
"As much as we've quite specifically chosen not to increase our prices at Easter, that doesn't mean unfortunately we won't be forced into increasing our prices later in the year."
Olsen said the increased cost of Easter treats represented a difficult situation for everyone.
"There are still pressures, not only on household budgets, but also on supplier inputs - pressures that not even the Easter bunny can get the hop on."
But not everyone's worried, one shopper said she would still be buying Easter chocolate no matter the price.
"Easter's Easter - you've got to have chocolate."