It is that time of year when tucking in to a chocolate egg is at the forefront of most people's minds.

To mark the holiday, Central England Co-operative, which has stores across East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire, has revealed some of its best-selling Easter lines as customers get set to stock up in 2018.

New research conducted by the store chain involving more than 200 food stores spread across 16 counties has found the best-selling products across the Easter period in 2017.

Unsurprisingly, Cadbury's Crème Eggs and Mini Eggs came out as the most popular items during Easter, with hot cross buns, Cadbury Easter Eggs, Prosecco and daffodils helping to fill out the top 10 as people looked to treat their loves ones.

The research also showed a big rise in sales of red wine, whole chickens and legs of lamb, potentially pointing towards families coming together to enjoy a celebration meal during the Easter festivities.

The Co-operative has revealed its most popular Easter items

A closer look at sales of Easter eggs revealed that Cadbury remains out front as the best seller, with Central England Co-op customers particularly enjoying Oreo, Flake and Marvellous Creations flavours.

Other big sellers were Kit Kat and Smarties themed eggs.

In the run up to Easter, staff at Central England Co-op's Distribution hub will have helped shift a quarter of million Easter eggs to hundreds of stores alongside 325,000 bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs and more than 400,000 Cadbury Crème Eggs.

One trend that has been on the rise over the past few years has been the demand for more premium products, with Central England Co-op's Irresistible products now enjoying a wider range and higher sales than ever before.

The statistics also showcased that while customers are looking to pick up items to celebrate Easter, it is also vitally important that everyday lines such as milk, bread and egg are available.

Top 10 list of products that proved popular in Central England Co-operative food stores in Easter 2017:

  1. Cadbury's Crème Egg
  2. Co-op Hot Cross Buns
  3. Cadbury Mini Eggs
  4. Co-op daffodils
  5. Co-op Prosecco
  6. Cadbury Flake Easter egg
  7. Hardys Voyage Shiraz
  8. Co-op medium British chicken
  9. Co-op leg of lamb
  10. Nestle Smarties Easter egg