Despite Corona, the majority of Austrians will celebrate Easter with their families this year.
Traditional food and customs will not be missing from the festivities.
Red is the most popular egg colour.
The Easter eggs sold at BILLA and MERKUR each year weigh as much as 20 Pummerin church bells.
With three little tricks you can win very quickly at the egg peck.
This is now the second Easter in the shadow of the Corona pandemic. Unlike last year, however, smaller gatherings with family or friends are permitted from today's perspective. According to a survey of 500 people commissioned by BILLA, 86 % of Austrians say they will celebrate Easter this year. 54% will spend the holiday with their partner and 39% with their children. Parents or parents-in-law (36 %) and siblings (19 %) are also welcome. Only around 2% say they will miss out on the festivities because of Corona.
Easter is celebrated in this country in an enjoyable and traditional way: Thus, coloured eggs (76 %), the Easter bunny made of chocolate (60 %), Easter ham or smoked meat (42 %) and the Easter striezel (38 %) are an absolute must for Austrians. Easter pinze (28%), Easter lamb made of sponge cake or cake dough (26%) and Reindling (13%) are also popular sweet snacks. In addition, the feast is accompanied by a variety of customs - the most popular is egg-tapping (53 %). This is followed by looking for Easter eggs (46 %), decorating Easter bushes and palm branches (43 %) and dyeing eggs (42 %). The Easter bunny comes to visit 3 out of 10 Austrians. Around 17% go to church and 15% light an Easter fire. Only 11% do not find Easter traditions important and do without them. Whether they paint them themselves or buy them in the supermarket: Brightly coloured Easter eggs are a must in Easter nests. If the eggs are coloured at home, Austrians prefer the colours red (40 %) and blue (36 %) or colourful (34 %). In 3% of Easter baskets there are even black eggs. Only 2 out of 10 Austrians buy their Easter eggs already dyed.
"This year we would like to accompany our customers' Easter celebrations with culinary delights and offer all kinds of sweet and savoury items for the perfect Easter brunch with our BILLA Easter range. Especially during the holidays, we take the time to start the day in a relaxed way and this is best done with loved ones and good food," says Elke Wilgmann, CEO BILLA MERKUR Austria. Customers will find all kinds of exquisite specialities at BILLA and MERKUR, such as Duroc ham, truffle salami wrapped in pecorino, French cheese variations, truffle Burratina, Tête de Moine cheese rosettes, Graved wild salmon, trout caviar and Easter bunny-shaped baked rolls. For a sweet finish, try the Easter pinze with butter or spelt pinze, apricot-peach or strawberry-rhubarb fruit spreads, chocolate soufflé, crème brûlée or macarons.
The weight of 20 Pummerin church bells: Fun facts about (Easter) eggs
Whether fresh for baking and cooking, hard-boiled for snacks or colourfully dyed for Easter nests - eggs are one of the most popular foods among Austrians. This is also shown by the impressive amount sold annually at BILLA and MERKUR: If you put all the hen's eggs sold in the BILLA and MERKUR outlets end to end, this corresponds to a distance of around 6,450 kilometres, which is roughly the distance overland from Austria to Mongolia. The Easter eggs sold alone have the weight of 20 Pummerin church bells. Increasingly, customers are also paying attention to the origin when buying eggs: For example, all free-range eggs purchased weigh about as much as 300 adult African elephant bulls and the amount of organic eggs purchased can fill 12,000 bathtubs.
BILLA tip: How to win at egg pecking!
If you have always wondered whether you can help your own luck when pecking eggs, there is good news for you: Yes! Here are some tips to come out on top in the competition:
Brown and greenish eggs are somewhat more stable than the white ones - so when pecking eggs, go for the former.
Hit the tip of the opponent's egg slightly to the side, then it is more likely to break.
When grabbing your own egg, distribute the forces symmetrically along the eggshell - the competitor's egg will crack because the forces are not evenly distributed here.
