Sector enjoyed best month in more than two years in March, consumer spending report shows

An early Easter boosted consumer spending in March and gave Britain’s retailers their best month in more than two years, according to a report.

Prompting hopes that the retail sector might be emerging from a protracted soft patch , the latest snapshot of spending in shops and online showed the value of sales above the current inflation rate for the first time since the early days of the cost of living crisis.

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Retailers cut the price of Easter treats, clothing and electrical items as consumer spending slowed

Inflation in shop prices in the UK has eased to the lowest level for more than two years after retailers cut prices on Easter treats, clothing and electrical goods amid a slowdown in spending by consumers in the cost of living crisis.

Industry figures show prices rose at an annual rate of 1.3% in March, down from a rate of 2.5% in February – the slowest pace since December 2021, according to the latest monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body and the market research firm NielsenIQ.

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In a tradition dating back to the 1870s, New Yorkers dressed up in creative and whimsical Easter finery on Sunday to take part in the annual Easter parade and bonnet festival in Manhattan, with St Patrick’s Cathedral among the best vantage points

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With cocoa and sugar prices at record highs and tougher regulation to fight rising obesity, the head of Cadbury’s has a lot on her plate over the peak chocolate season of Easter

It’s Easter and chocolate is very much on the menu. But it could be meltdown for the industry as the cost of cocoa soared to a historic high of more than $10,000 a tonne last week after two years of poor harvests in the key west African growing region.

Sitting calmly among the relics of Cadbury’s history in the company archive, Louise Stigant, the boss of Mondelēz’s UK arm – which includes the British chocolate brand celebrating its 200th anniversary this year – is charged with making sure it has a future, as key ingredients, including sugar as well as cocoa, have soared in price .

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I used to think grown men don’t cry, but the older I get, I find I am crying all the time. I’m grateful that Christ forgives all

When I realize that my one-year anniversary with my boyfriend is on Easter Sunday, I text Merray. “That’s … a lot,” she jokes. Both of us had grown up Christian: me Chinese Baptist, her Coptic Orthodox. She texts me about her girlhood Easter dress: an empire waist baby-doll top with cap sleeves. It made her disdain her breasts because she saw herself as one of “the Boys”. We’re both queer. We have since left the church, but still talk about God. Now in our 30s, we have slid back into some version of our childhood spirituality, but would sooner meet the Holy Spirit on a dance floor than at a church. Consider us lapsed atheists.

When I was teenager, gay and closeted, I remember church leaders marched against gay marriage up and down the California suburbs. I found the Book of Romans cheerless: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and “For the wages of sin is death”. Even Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, that the desire to commit adultery was as sinful as actually committing adultery. So there was no getting around sin. Yet I believed I was young and innocent, and I did not deserve death. There had to be another way. One day, I would move to New York and become an atheist. I thought it was that simple.

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Handmade pieces in a variety of gorgeous flavours, this is everything I am here for

It’s Easter and it’s been a tough week. After various challenges these last few days, it was a joy to come home to Fiona Pâtissière ’s four bars of delight, £30.50 (released periodically, see her website for more details). I’ve tried to time this column with a ‘drop’ so you should be in luck! If not, you can pre-order and bear in mind that production temporarily stops in June cos: weather.

I wrote about Fiona and her wicked, wicked creations three years ago and to be perfectly honest, I’ve avoided them ever since. Her bars are my absolute sweet spot. Careless Collection and Gabriella Cugno ’s bars also hit this spot, the former now available in Harvey Nichols .

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Experts say the global shortage of the main ingredient of chocolate is linked to poor conditions for farmers supplying large companies

Every Easter, UK consumers collectively spend more than £1bn on food, drink, gifts, entertainment and about 80m chocolate eggs, racking up an average bill exceeding £50 each. But shoppers this year are paying more than usual: since last Easter, chocolate prices have increased by more than 12.6% , more than double the rise in supermarket food and drink prices.

The cost of cocoa, chocolate’s main ingredient, has been increasing all year, hitting a record high just before Valentine’s Day and again this week, when it was priced at more than $10,000 a tonne – meaning it is currently more valuable than several precious metals, and growing in value more quickly than bitcoin.

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Take your pick: the privatised water company gold bunny or the leaking crony creme egg?

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