Chocolate bunnies that fit in the palm of your hand are the perfect Easter treat that are perhaps easier to eat than an entire Easter egg. Their compact size means the only thing to seriously worry about is what to munch on first, the ears or nose?
It is widely considered that Lindt is the original chocolate Easter bunny maker. However other retailers keen for a slice of the Easter pie have hopped onto the Easter parade and created chocolate bunnies of their own. There are five contenders ready to take on the Easter bunny crown from Lindt. Would they be victorious and leave Lindt hopping mad?
Writer Bethan Shufflebotham tried a selection of chocolate Easter bunnies. Here is what she thought about the sweet line-up as reported in Manchester Evening News.
I don’t think the childhood joy of unwrapping a Lindt gold bunny ever goes away. I’m 24 and still love receiving one each spring. This year, the gold foil-wrapped chocolate treat is celebrating its 70th anniversary, having first been created in 1952. Today, around 150 million Lindt gold bunny figures are produced every year in over 50 countries around the world, each adorned with an iconic red ribbon and bell.
But naturally, as with most great things, they’ve been imitated and recreated by dozens of other brands. But will any of them ever live up to the creamy chocolate taste and status of the original? I headed out to Asda, Morrisons, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Tesco to find their own brand of chocolate bunnies to see how they compared to Lindt. First up, Tesco’s shelves seemed to be lacking any chocolate bunnies of their own - but there were some Lindt, Kinder and Cadbury bunnies.
Looking online, the Tesco own brand milk bunnies are currently unavailable, which means they’ve either been extremely popular, or there’s been a stock issue. However, I did find bunnies in the other five supermarkets, with prices ranging from 80p to £2, compared to Lindt’s £3 bunny.
Price
Here’s how much each of the 100g chocolate bunnies cost from every supermarket:
- Asda 80p
- Aldi £1.49
- Morrisons £1.50
- Sainsbury’s £1.50
- M&S £2
- Lindt £3
Packaging
Most of the supermarkets opted for a metallic shade of brown, bronze or gold, with only M&S going for a more colourful approach, with various shades in the shop to choose from. Of course, I went with purple. Asda’s brown bunny features cream highlights on the ears and feet, with floral decoration to symbolise spring. Morrisons went for a simpler approach with plain brown packaging, with black details.
But I can’t help feeling they’ve never seen a real rabbit as the front legs are well off. Sainsbury’s had a much better grasp of what a bunny looks like, wrapped in gold foil with big doe eyes. But for me it was Aldi who won for packaging with a very cute looking bunny wrapped in gold foil. Aldi was the only supermarket to add a ribbon and gold pendant similar to Lindt’s and the attention to detail was very much appreciated.
Appearance
Having unwrapped the bunnies, there were some clear differences, but also some stark similarities. The only bunny of a similar height to the Lindt version was that of M&S, whose bunny held their ears pinned back, looking very sweet indeed. Aldi’s chocolate bunny was rather detailed, with little brush strokes of hair in the chocolate to add texture and character. Lindt bunnies aren’t particularly detailed, but feature a smooth body, eyes and subtle curves to show where the ears and legs are.
Taking a similar approach, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda's bunnies were all identical in shape, with very simple moulds, button noses and round eyes. Only Morrisons' seemed slightly more fragile, having broken at the base.
Taste
As expected, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda’s chocolate bunnies all tasted the same. Asda wins on value for money as theirs was 70p cheaper than the other two supermarkets. I wasn’t blown away by the flavour of Aldi’s Moser Roth bunny. The chocolate was quite thin, so for me, the most similar in terms of taste was M&S.
The M&S bunny was so thick, I bit into an ear and it was still solid - I had to knock on the body to double-check it was hollow. It had a really nice flavour and for me, was the prettiest Easter treat. If you wanted to save a little bit of cash this Easter, I’d opt for the M&S Beau Bunny over Lindt.
