HELSINKI (AP) — A shortage of eggs in shops during Holy Week has led Norwegians to flock to supermarkets across the border in Sweden and hoard the traditional Easter food.
Norwegian news outlet Nettavisen said Thursday that the Nordby shopping center in Sweden, located just off the border about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the capital, Oslo, has been filled by “desperate” Norwegians trying stock up on eggs.
The center’s Maxi-Mat food store ran out of eggs Tuesday, while the adjacent Nordby Supermarket has had to limit the number of eggs purchased to three 20-packs per household, the news outlet reported.
Not only are the Swedish stores better stocked with eggs, a traditional Easter treat needed for many dishes, but the product is also more affordable in Sweden, Nettavisen said.
“It’s far cheaper than you get in Norway — if you can get eggs in Norway at all, that is,” Ståle Løvheim, the head of the Nordby shopping center, told Nettavisen. “The last time I was in Norway, the store was empty” of eggs.