Walmart offers affordable Easter meals to lure thrifty shoppers

(Reuters) - Walmart Inc said on Monday it would offer Easter meals and bundles at affordable prices, a move aimed at drawing more customers to its stores at a time when egg prices have surged and consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets.

The price of eggs, a staple of Easter baskets, has been near a record high for months as outbreaks of avian flu have killed more than 58 million backyard and commercial chickens and turkeys since February 2022.

Walmart said on Monday it would keep the prices of its Easter essentials consistent with 2022 and offer the Easter meal and basket combo for less than $100, both online and in stores.

This year, Walmart's Easter meals and baskets will include staples like ham, green beans and cherry pies, along with decorative grass, Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bunnies and Reese's Eggs.

Increasing prices of meat, fish and eggs, as well as higher prices of cereals and bakery goods, have meant the average cost of food for families rose by 11.3% in January, data from the Labor Department showed.

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, struck a cautious note in its economic outlook for 2023 last month as it forecast full-year earnings below estimates, and warned that tight spending by shoppers could pressure profit margins.

(Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru and Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Pooja Desai)