Some supermarkets have dropped their reluctance to selling a church-backed Easter egg that mentions Jesus and the resurrection on the box.
But three supermarket giants – Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – have so far failed to agree to stock the chocolate egg.
Last October, the Church of England complained that stores were reluctant to stock an overtly religious product for children.
Welcome
But now Waitrose, Morrisons and the Co-op have agreed to give the egg, called The Real Easter Egg, a trial run.
The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, welcomed the move.
He said: “It is great news that for the first time people will have the chance of buying an Easter egg from a shop that explains the significance of the festival on the box.
“Through the charitable donation and its Fairtrade chocolate the egg brings to light the Easter themes of hope and new life. I believe there will be widespread support for the product from the faith community with many others likely to be interested.”
Delighted
Last year supporters of the egg called on churches, church schools and individuals to place mail orders for the Easter egg and over 70,000 were ordered in the first few weeks.
The demand led to its manufacturer increasing production.
David Marshall, from The Meaningful Chocolate Company, which developed the egg, said: “We are delighted that our customers have made The Real Easter Egg such a success. I think we have proven that people are not afraid to buy The Real Easter Egg and we hope we have changed the face of Easter forever.”
Charities
The product carries a message about Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and depicts a hill with three crosses on it.
Donations from the profits will be made to two charities: Baby Lifeline and Traidcraft Exchange.
In December it was revealed that less than one per cent of Christmas cards sold in top supermarkets had religious themes.
In a newspaper investigation of over 5,000 Christmas cards at leading supermarkets in England and Wales, only 45 had a religious theme.
The Daily Mail’s investigation labelled Morrisons the worst offender. Out of 973 cards surveyed at the chain, only six had a religious theme.