Easter - a family business affair

Are you celebrating Easter today? And if so, how? That’s the question one family business set out to answer – and the results make interesting reading.

Walmart, controlled by the descendants of Sam Walton, found that among the families planning to celebrate Easter, almost 60% would buy chocolate.

Many of those cracking open chocolate Easter eggs today will be enjoying products made by family businesses, like Mars, the American confectionary giant controlled by the eponymous family, or Italian favourite Ferrero. Then there are the smaller family businesses, making less famous but often equally delicious options, such as Ireland’s Butlers Chocolates, which is selling small praline-filled eggs.

Even if the chocolate isn’t made by a family business, there’s a good chance the company owes its roots to a family – think Cadbury, Thornton and Fry.

“There is an Easter egg to suit every taste out there somewhere,” said Cesar Pereira, global director of product launch analytics at Datamonitor. “Chocolatiers from around the globe have pulled out the stops for top-class product innovation this year.”

But if an egg isn’t what you’re looking for, there are always chocolate bunnies, like the ones made by family-controlled Lindt. Or, make like Walmart’s customers and cook a savoury treat – without cheating. Nine in 10 of those surveyed that prepare an Easter meal prefer to cook it themselves rather than buy something pre-made.