Here's what's on the table for Easter in N.B.
Easter weekend is often celebrated with treats and family meals. Some shoppers look for signature items to put on the table that keep a couple local grocers busy.
"It's definitely our busiest week of the year, even over Christmas," said Daniel Cullen, the owner of Dan's Country Market in Saint John.
One marquee Easter item for Cullen is pre-peeled vegetables. He and his staff have been processing them all week.
"People love it," he said. "Like, there's a massive demand for it for us and it brings a lot of people in."
Cullen estimates the business will peel up to 2,700 kilograms of vegetables this week, including squash, turnip, carrots, regular potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Another reason people visit leading up to the holiday is the candy. Cullen said they also sell lots of meat, but no turkeys. He will sell around 100 hams.
Some customers also look for barbecue foods — steak, chicken and sausages.
Dan's Country Market isn't the only place serving ham for the holiday. Tony's Prime Cuts in Maugerville, just outside of Fredericton, sells a signature ham.
Their hams are double-smoked with hardwood. They start taking pre-orders for ham weeks in advance of Easter.
Zachary Cogswell manages the business. His grandfather, William Mulder, opened the butcher shop in 1973 and Cogswell has been around the shop his whole life.
"We sold probably the most we've ever sold this year by far," Cogswell said. "It blew all of our minds. Honestly, just the support from everybody and it's been a great time."
The business sold roughly 170 hams.
Customers also look for their eggs and smoked bacon. Cogswell estimates they've probably sold over 225 kilograms of bacon this week.
Easter is the busiest time of the year for Cogswell's shop — next to Christmas.
"This year I think Easter was even better than Christmas," he said. "Normally Christmas week is the really busy, busy time," he said.
Cogswell said all of their products are from within Canada and a lot come from the Maritimes.
They've been seeing a steady increase in customers since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cullen said he gets more customers at his store each Easter but he thinks there has been an even bigger increase due to the current trade war between Canada and the U.S.
"I think that uptick is bigger this year because of the tariff stuff," he said. "But we grow every year, but we've grown more this year and I would have to say that it would be connected to the support-local movement."
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