Just in time for Easter, we worked our way through 22 supermarket-available marshie eggs to bring you this definitive ranking. 

New Zealanders have a particular penchant for a chocolate-covered marshmallow treat at any time of year, but Easter is when we really go hard. While marshmallow Easter eggs are popular in South Africa, too, nowhere rivals Aotearoa for its passion for this particular treat. There are various theories as to why – while marshmallow eggs were available here from the 1930s, the Anarchist History of New Zealand blog points to a post-second-world-war economy and efficiency push, as noted in this Te Awamutu Courier story from 1950. Another hypothesis is that marshmallow eggs particularly suit our temperate climate, holding up well on a supermarket shelf or in the pantry at home. 

The love story was tested in 2019, however, when the closure of the Cadbury factory in Dunedin meant the famous brand’s classic Easter ovoid was cleaved in two, a move met with mass outrage and at least one noble attempt to reunite those brutally separated halves.

Seven years later, we’ve finally moved on enough to be able to assess the array of marshmallow eggs on offer in this country in a cool-headed and sober fashion. For this tasting, we scoured the major supermarket chains to gather 22 eggs* from four different brands at various price points** (if you can’t get it at Woolworths, New World or Pak’nSave, we didn’t include it – sorry to the artisan chocolatiers, but a line had to be drawn somewhere).  

This was a blind tasting: each egg was unwrapped and rehoused in a randomly numbered receptacle before being provided to the tasting panel, whose members consumed them independently over the course of a couple of days (or a couple of hours, in the case of the more impulsive tasters). Those hand-selected eggsperts – senior writer Alex Casey, memberships lead Ben Fagan, contributing writer Emma Gleason, production editor Calum Henderson, editor-at-large Toby Manhire and deputy editor Alice Neville – ranked each egg out of 10 and provided some suitably pithy and insightful commentary, before the scores were averaged out to bring you this definitive list of the marshmallow Easter eggs of Aotearoa, ranked from worst to best. 

*We became aware of the existence of Queen Anne’s dark chocolate orange egg only after the tasting had concluded and the final scores had been locked in, so unfortunately it was not considered for this ranking.

**It’s coming to the end of marshmallow egg season and many are currently on special, so the price ranges given reflect the original price(s) and the discounted price(s). The reader may wish to note the weight of each packet against the price and the score given in order to assess the value of each egg in this ranking, as some offer considerably more bang for buck than others. 

22 Potter Brothers Pineapple Marshmallow Milk Chocolate Whole Eggs 

4.16/10

180g four pack $8.50-$10 from New World

Our lowest-scoring egg wasn’t exactly despised, but no one much cared for it. Other than Toby, that is, who waxed lyrical about “a voluminous, thoughtful sort of thing, with a confident burst of banana… or is it pineapple?” Emma also erroneously detected banana, as did Ben (“Perky Nana? Too sticky and wet”). Alex was the most scathing: “The only thing worse than a pineapple egg is a pineapple-presenting egg that actually tastes like absolutely nothing,” she thundered, adding, “Spent more time than I care to admit peeling off the very thick chocolate shell and found a second wind nibbling those fragments, but that’s not exactly a glowing review, is it?”

21 Rainbow Marshmallow Scrambled Eggs 

4.75/10

120g six pack $3.80 and 200g 10 pack $4.30-$5.50 from Pak’nSave and Woolworths

“I would have scored this even lower if it hadn’t been for the exciting unboxing/Labubu interactive element to this egg, AKA that every one appears to contain a thrilling new colour combination within,” said Alex. She wasn’t wrong: Rainbow’s “scrambled” offering is a lucky dip of sorts. “Was this egg designed by drugs and Pinterest?” asked Toby on biting into his pink-and-green offering, which Alex described as “Wicked-inspired (‘Defying Cavity’ indeed)” and Alice as “reminiscent of the cover of Greta and Valdin”. 

Ben and Emma, meanwhile, were lumped with lurid blue and yellow eggs, while Calum’s had “an unappetising purplish tinge”. Of the flavour, Alice declared it “nothing, but not offensive”, while Calum deemed it to be “a waste of [his] time”.

20 Rainbow Banana Caramel Marshmallow Eggs 

5/10

320g bag $7.80-$8.80 from New World and Pak’nSave 

“Concerningly, I actually can’t tell what this one is supposed to be,” worried Calum. “Is it pineapple? Honeycomb? Both? Whatever it is, I can’t condone it.” Alice also misidentified the flavour as pineapple (“tastes fake”), while Emma correctly picked the banana, yelping “yikes!” in response.

Alex, on the other hand, not only got the flavour but also got the flavour. “It is hard to put into words the despair I felt when I saw the marshmallow innards were yellow, swiftly followed by full body relief that this was not another pineapple egg taking the piss out of me,” she waxed. “A banana egg! A crazy novelty that soars above all other novelties in the lineup, and the perfect egg for the monkey in your life this Easter. Congratulations to this courageous and agenda-setting egg on taking a big swing, no easy feat in 2026.”

Sadly, such high praise was not enough to lift it out of the bottom three. 

19 Rainbow Marshmallow Eggs Pineapple Chunks 

5.17/10

120g six pack, $3.80-$4.20 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

The reader may sense a theme developing down here at the bottom end of the ranking, but rest assured that not all yellow eggs were disliked. Toby was actually quite keen on this one – “a moreish mouthful of pineapple… or is it banana?” – and Alice reckoned it tasted like “real pineapple juice”, while simultaneously slighting the chocolate as “a bit average”. “Honey I Blew Up the Pineapple Lump,” Calum quipped on tasting this egg. “Quite a good flavour approximation, pleasingly plump and texturally satisfying, but kind of just made me crave actual Pineapple Lumps, which are nicer.” 

Emma criticised the “wan yellow” hue, while Alex was again the most poetic but this time the most damning, too. “The chocolate shell has just the right amount of give I’m looking for, but I was frankly horrified to find yet another plastic pineapple prison waiting for me beneath the surface,” she revealed. “We used to have seasons, we used to have rules, and I simply cannot condone such a tropical moment being thrust into these autumnal times.”

18 Potter Brothers Vanilla Marshmallow Milk Chocolate Whole Eggs 

5.41/10

180g four pack $8-$10 from New World and Pak’nSave

A polarising egg, it was wholly praised for its doubleness but otherwise divided the tasters. Toby was a fan, saying it “feels special but not desperate”, something he believed made it “a Volvo kind of egg”. Alex, on the other hand, was angered. “If you have ever fantasised about picking up a hunk of clay and biting into it, this is the egg for you. Extremely thick chocolate and impenetrably dense pallid marshmallow, with no sign of a cheery yolk in sight. I am furious I had to eat so much of this terrible egg in my valiant quest to hit yolk, and even angrier after I realised that I could have just cut it in half the whole time.”

Everyone else was more or less meh, with Ben “not into it”, and Calum declaring this egg to be “not best in show in any respect”.

16= Rainbow Marshmallow Easter Eggs with Yolk

5.41/10

120g six pack $3.80-$4.20 and 200g 10 pack $4.30-$5.50 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

This was a run-of-the-mill sort of egg, which was a good thing for Emma (“classic egg”) and Calum (“traditional white marshmallow with a yellow yolk, covered with the kind of low-grade chocolate you wouldn’t tolerate any other time of the year – everything a marshmallow egg should be”.) Toby (“meh”) and Ben (“standard egg”), meanwhile, were on the fence, while Alice was more negative: “Bleurgh. Just an average egg. Cheap chocolate. Yolk too pallid.”

Alex found it to be “an alarmingly rotund and confident egg, its braggadocious nature confirmed after one bite revealed this had a whole layer of yolk from coast to coast. Admire the ambition, but have to mark it way down for barely perceptible flavour and a furry mouthfeel from the plastic choc.”

16= Potter Brothers Raspberry Marshmallow Milk Chocolate Whole Eggs 

5.41/10

180g four pack, $8.50-$10 from New World

“I hate to be a diva but what an extremely asymmetrical egg,” complained Alex on biting into this one. “One half seemed like it was in a rush to leave, and frankly so was I. The chocolate was far too thick and the cocoa flavour too muted, and the insides were sickly sweet. That said, this egg would be hugely elevated if it was enjoyed with a nice cup of tea, or in basically any other situation where the taster wasn’t being forced to choke down dozens of chocolate eggs on a deadline.” 

The other tasters were similarly underwhelmed, but Toby again dragged the average score up, waxing lyrical about “a plump pink cloud wrapped in unpretentious milk chocolate”. 

15 Rainbow Raspberry Choc Marshmallow Easter Eggs

5.58/10

120g six pack $3.80-$4.20 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

Emma (“looks mass-market and tastes it too”) and Alice (“tastes cheap”) turned up their snooty noses at this one, while Alex shot it down with “nothing to be sniffed at, but I also never want it to talk to me or my family ever again”. The men of the panel were more positive, with Calum describing this egg as “a good example of the apparently very popular pink egg varietal – scratches the sweet treat itch without leaving you wanting a single bite more”, while Toby reckoned it was “slightly high on the marsh-to-choc ratio but otherwise sound”.

14 Rainbow Raspberry Lamington Marshmallow Eggs 

5.83/10

320g bag $8-$8.80 from New World

No one picked this as a lamington-inspired egg, though Alex came close, proclaiming: “What an utterly baffling yet charming experience to consume this egg, whose coconut flavour profile and gritty texture suggest this is either a posho boutique coconut ice type flavour or a cheapo egg that somehow accidentally hit the jackpot when an intern pratfalled into a vat of coconut shavings and sent it flying into the marshmallow.”

She continued: “The chocolate suggests maybe it errs more on the cheapo side, but the thin flavoursome layer (it’s either coconut or human skin) between the marshmallow and the shell suggests a more deliberate and luxury choice here. Despite having no idea what this egg is, or what it wants from me, I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Alice said essentially the same thing in fewer words – “enjoyable” – while Ben admitted he was “not sure I’ve ever had a coconut egg but yum! A welcome change.” 

Calum, meanwhile, felt the egg “gave a strong sense of eating a treat that’s meant to be for children – a guilty pleasure”. Toby wasn’t so keen, muttering, “If you want pink marshmallow and chocolate with a few flecks of coconut, this is for you, but it’s not for me.” Emma described it as “a dusty-looking contender”, announcing that she felt sorry for this egg and comparing it, curiously, to “an old bench” on account of its structurally sound nature. 

13 Pascall Pineapple Lump Marshmallow Eggs

6.3/10

150g six pack $3.80-$7.50 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

Emma and Ben were both convinced this was a Perky Nana egg, but Calum (“if this isn’t the official Pineapple Lumps egg I’ll eat my hat”) and Alice (“it is clearly a Pineapple Lump egg, and I love Pineapple Lumps”) hit the nail on the head. “Leaves all the other pineapple ones for dead,” reckoned Calum, while Alice praised the chocolate’s “pleasing crispness to the tooth”. But there was “too much going on here” for Toby. “But it’s pineapple and bright enough that you could attach it to your bicycle for visibility at dusk,” he concluded. “Safety first.”

12 Cadbury Dairy Milk Marshmallow Eggs 

6.8/10

150g six pack, $3.80-$7.50 from New World, Pak ’n Save and Woolworths

At least three tasters described this as a “classic”, while Toby and Emma opted for more creative analogies – “the Mazda Demio of marshmallow eggs” and  “the firemen calendar of eggs” respectively. “Turns out a half-egg is actually more than enough if it has as much flavour as this – very rich, very sweet, doesn’t leave you wanting,” said Calum. Alice noted the marshmallow was “pleasingly springy to the tooth”, while the yolk was “just the right shade of yellow”. The yolk was also a win for Ben: “I really like the fake yolk. Always have, always will.”

11 Queen Anne Milk Chocolate Pineapple Marshmallow Easter Eggs 

6.83/10

200g eight pack $12 from New World

“Yellow. Bit posh,” said Toby of the lowest-ranking Queen Anne egg we tried. “I suspect this is a bougie egg,” agreed Emma. “There’s a depth to the flavour *adjusts glasses* that suggests a fancy product.” Alex (“the texture is sublime but the pineapple flavour is way too much”) and Alice (“another classy egg but I don’t rate the flavour of this one. Is that banana? Pineapple? I don’t even know any more”) were less impressed, while Calum revealed he was a Queen Anne sceptic: “These eggs have a slender profile which makes for a slightly joyless eating experience… nevertheless I can appreciate the flavour of this one.”

9= Potter Brothers Dark Peppermint Marshmallow Chocolate Whole Eggs

6.9/10

180g four pack $8.50-$10 from New World

“Decadence on a scale even I can’t stomach, and the pale green tinge to the marshmallow isn’t doing any favours,” groaned Calum. Emma agreed the colour was off, looking like “something you’d squeeze out of a boil”, but changed her tune once she tried it: “Plot twist, it’s luscious and minty inside.” Ben accused this egg of being “too wet to be great, but you could do a lot worse”, while Alice felt it was “not quite right, vaguely toothpastey, but not wholly unpleasant”.

9= Queen Anne Milk Chocolate Marshmallow Eggs 

6.9/10

200g eight pack $10.80-$14 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

“A very handsome egg,” noted Emma approvingly, with Alex similarly praising its “understated elegance and timelessness. I respect its restraint in not bowing to trend nor novelty.” In contrast to Calum’s critique of the “slender profile” of the Queen Anne egg above, Alice found this specimen to be “ergonomic in the hand”, enjoying the “richness of the chocolate” and the “light, springy marshmallow”.

Calum, ever the contrarian, slated this egg as “high-end but not in a good way. The artisanal-tasting chocolate doesn’t crack the way it should when you bite into it, and the marshmallow isn’t springy enough – it’s more like a mousse. Quality ingredients count for little if the vibes are off.”

8 Queen Anne Dark Chocolate Marshmallow Eggs

7/10

200g eight pack $12-$13.30 from New World

This rich and sophisticated egg might have run away with the number one spot if it weren’t for the ire it raised in our resident Queen Anne sceptic. “I hate everything about this one,” snarled Calum, railing against her majesty’s “completely inappropriate use of dark chocolate” and the egg’s “cloying texture”.

Others agreed to disagree in the strongest possible terms, with Toby fawning over the “elegant, refined” dark chocolate, Alex charmed by the “extremely light and fluffy” marshmallow and Alice deeming it an “egg for a grownup”. Emma gave it a perfect 10/10 – “like the kind of egg a wealthy aunt would give you every other year”.

7 Cadbury Buzz Bar Marshmallow Eggs 

7.1/10

325g bag $8-$13 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

Toby correctly picked this as an “ovoid Buzz Bar”, declaring it “splendid”. Calum agreed: “The classic marshmallow egg is elevated immensely by a smudge of caramel under the casing. If I was going to the shops right now to purchase one pack of marshmallow eggs to gorge on this Easter, it’d quite likely be this one.” Ben wasn’t such a fan of what he described as “additional goop”. Alice proclaimed it to be “bloody yum”, but noted nothing could beat the perfectly proportioned Buzz Bar, so elegant in its slimness. 

6 Queen Anne Milk Chocolate Hokey Pokey Marshmallow Eggs 

7.16/10

200g eight pack $12 from New World

This egg split the tasters, some of whom were confused by its flavour profile. “Not a bad flavouring,” offered Ben, “though I couldn’t tell you what it is. Caramel? Or banana? Or pineapple?” Both Emma and Calum reckoned it was honeycomb (close), with Calum saying “it’s just not coming together for me in the mouth. Confusing.” Alice, however, was a huge fan – “Hokey pokey! Yum, like a Crunchie bar in egg form. On paper it should be too sickly and yet… delicious.”

Alex was similarly charmed: “I really loved this egg,” she gushed, “perhaps because I’ve been so pummelled by synthetic strawberry that the hokey pokey tasted almost savoury by comparison. Feel pretty confident this is a Queen Anne egg due to the sleek shape and deliciously delicate milk chocolate shell, but the innards are the real star of the show here. Either this egg genuinely has an intriguing salted caramel, umami type quality to it, or I am in desperate need of a carrot and a glass of water. Top tier.”

Toby, on the other hand, was quite simply not a fan: “No thank you. Too fancy. Too sweet. Too much goo.” 

4= Rainbow Mega Eggs with Yolk 

7.25/10

120g six pack $3.80-$5 and 320g bag $8 from Woolworths 

Waves of nostalgia washed over the tasters with this one, with Emma announcing it “looks like the marshmallow eggs of my childhood”, and Ben being whisked straight back to 1999. “Even with the horrors of eight other eggs in my system, this brought a smile,” he sighed. “It has a yolk. It makes the cracking noise as you bite through the chocolate middle. Yay.” Calum, meanwhile, was in raptures. “The satisfaction of biting into a proper ‘double’ marshmallow egg cannot be understated,” he declared. “A perfect example of the marshmallow egg as I remember it and therefore think it always ought to be.”

4= Queen Anne Dark Chocolate Raspberry Marshmallow Easter Eggs

7.25/10

200g eight pack $10.80-$13.30 from New World and Pak ’n Save

Even Calum was impressed by this one: “Respect for actually tasting like raspberry,” he grudgingly conceded. “Not personally what I’m looking for in a marshmallow egg but I can appreciate the craftsmanship.” Toby found it “fluffy, flavoursome, just teetering on the edge of too sticky”, while Queen Anne stan Alex admitted “the darkness of the chocolate combined with the tartness of the raspberry is a little much for me – please don’t take my Christchurch visa away, Queen Anne!”

Alice was similarly unconvinced by the flavour, but the perfection of the dark choccy won her over. That aspect also impressed Ben – “good crisp crack” – and Emma, who approved of the fact you could “knock on it”.

3 Rainbow Marshmallow Eggs Toasted Coconut 

7.33/10

120g six pack, $3.80-$4.70 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

In a sea of garish yellows and pinks, this egg was an oasis of coconutty calm. Multiple tasters were reminded of a Bounty Bar. “As an avowed coconut chocolate lover this sent my tastebuds into ecstasies,” cried Calum, while Alex noted that “coconut feels like the closest possible ingredient to a salad right now, so I welcome this bold deviation with open arms”. Ben applauded the egg’s “integrity and self-confidence”, with Alice succinctly pronouncing it to be “quite nice”. 

2 Cadbury Pinky Marshmallow Eggs

7.9/10

150g six pack $3.80-$7.50 from New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths

Emma declared this “the naughtiest egg”, a sentiment Calum could get behind: “Feels insanely decadent, but I have surprisingly few regrets.” Alice admitted her heart sank when she bit in to see yet another pink interior, but she was delighted to discover “it was yum”. “Tastes like a Buzz Bar but comes with a vivid, impertinent pink marshmallow,” said Toby, which leads one to qwonder if he’s ever tried a Pinky Bar.

1 Queen Anne Dark Chocolate Mint Marshmallow Easter Eggs 

7.91/10

200g eight pack, $12-$13.30 from New World and Woolworths

The elegant After Dinner Mint-esque qualities of our winning egg had the panel in raptures. “Tasted classy,” proclaimed Ben. “A grownup egg,” added Emma. “The height of sophistication,” squealed Alice. “Absolutely divine!” Alex considered this specimen to be “a deeply mature egg”, musing that while it wasn’t a traditional Easter flavour combo, it “still works as a stone-cold serious reflection of these brooding, trying times”. Toby insightfully posited that “this will appeal to people who like minty” and, despite being “not a big fan of mint choc”, Calum had to admit “it works surprisingly well”. God save the Queen (Anne).