The data of the Lithuanian shopping chain “Maxima” show that in the week before Easter, eggs are the most relevant item in the basket, and their sales double. The retail chain shares that in total it sold about 11.9 million during the Easter period last year. units of eggs, and even more are prepared for this year’s Easter.
Among them are not only the usual chicken or quail eggs, but also African ostrich eggs weighing about 2 kg – they can be found in the largest stores of the retail chain. In the assortment, buyers who are in a hurry or who want to make it easier to prepare the festive table, have the opportunity to choose pre-painted eggs by the masters of the retail chain – the demand for these painted eggs is increasing every year. For this year’s Easter, the retail chain has prepared more than 50,000 of them. units.
Although white-shelled eggs, the majority of which are laid by hens kept in cages, are usually looked for for dyeing before Easter, the data of “Maximas” reveal that buyers’ habits are changing – they prefer to choose those eggs laid by hens kept free or on litter.
By refusing to sell eggs from chickens kept in cruel conditions from 2025, the Maxima retail chain reminds us that this Easter is the last time customers will still find them on store shelves. This change is especially important for those looking for white-shelled eggs before Easter – from next year only a symbolic number will remain.
Indrė Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė, director of the Communications and Corporate Relations Department of Maximos, shares that only certain breeds of hens kept on litter can lay eggs with a naturally white shell, and there are very few of them on the market. However, the experts of the trade network do not rule out the possibility that in the future suppliers will be able to offer a larger share of eggs from happy chickens with a white shell.
“The majority of white eggs come to stores from farms where hens are raised in cages, so we decided to phase out such eggs in our range. We started to make these changes ourselves – a couple of years ago we refused to use eggs from so-called unfortunate chickens in “Master-quality” culinary and confectionery products. This is a significant step, because on average, 60-70 tons of eggs are used for these products every month,” says I.Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė.
The representative of “Maxima” adds that the percentage of caged eggs in the range has been small so far. A much larger part, about 77 percent, of all available hens’ eggs in the assortment of the retail chain consists of eggs from free-range, organic and litter hens.
