The hovering worth of eggs has left many customers scrambling over the previous 12 months. And it might change into a much bigger supply of frustration for these planning on celebrating Easter with all kinds of egg-related rituals related to the vacation, resembling egg dyeing and Easter egg hunts.
However one food-industry group is touting an alternate thought: Swapping in potatoes for these eggs.
“2023 is the 12 months of the Easter potato,” mentioned Potatoes USA, a advertising and marketing group that represents about 2,000 spud growers, in a press launch. Whereas the value of eggs was up 55.4% in February in comparison with the 12 months earlier than, for example, potato costs elevated 13.5% 12 months over 12 months, in accordance with the newest Shopper Value Index.
What’s extra, People are anticipated to spend a collective $24 billion on Easter this 12 months, in accordance with the Nationwide Retail Federation, which is an all-time excessive. And folks collaborating within the vacation are anticipated to spend $192.01 apiece, on common.
So sure, Potatoes USA is asking for customers to leap aboard what they are saying is an actual bandwagon, noting that potatoes might be dyed identical to eggs or painted in every kind of enjoyable methods. A key tip with regards to the latter strategy: A “white primer coat will make the colours pop!” Potatoes USA suggests.
Marisa Stein, advertising and marketing director for Potatoes USA, says the concept for the spud adorning got here from customers themselves.
“We noticed it and we kinda jumped on it,” she advised MarketWatch.
Stein provides that Potatoes USA isn’t suggesting that taters substitute eggs altogether come Easter, nonetheless. She envisions a world by which each foodstuffs can have their place as a part of vacation adorning. “It’s a enjoyable manner so as to add one other dimension to the Easter festivities,” she mentioned.
Stein additionally notes that if potatoes are adorned with food-safe dyes, they can be utilized afterward in vacation dishes (scalloped potatoes, anybody?). Conversely, if any tater decorators wish to enshrine their creations, Potatoes USA famous that “a coat of hairspray can seal the colour and maintain the dye from bleeding.”
However is it against the law to make use of potatoes to your Easter décor given the vacation’s eggy traditions, to say nothing of the spiritual significance of the egg as a logo of rebirth?
Paul Zahn, a Los Angeles-based entertaining professional, mentioned he likes the concept of adorning each eggs and potatoes for Easter. He additionally famous that potatoes supply a broader canvas, of kinds — they’re usually bodily bigger, and they are often adorned Mr. Potato Head-style, utilizing toothpicks to carry varied visible components in place (he suggests turning olives into eyes).
“It’s a sturdier medium,” Zahn mentioned of the potato.
You’ll discover some people on social media who’re supporting the potato-decorating pattern, too. It’s a vegan Easter egg different, for one factor.
All that mentioned, the value of eggs is lastly coming down, in accordance with a latest report. And as others have famous, relying on the place you store, a single potato isn’t essentially a less expensive guess than a single egg. On the Krazy Coupon Woman web site, one contributor named Nora did the maths and located that she was really spending extra on the potatoes.
However in the long run, Nora didn’t object, saying adorning potatoes is “nonetheless a reasonably cheap (and enjoyable!) household craft for Easter.”
