A German court ruled against Mondelez International on Wednesday after the confectionery giant quietly reduced its iconic Milka chocolate bars from 100 grams to 90 grams without meaningfully altering the packaging.
The Regional Court of Bremen sided with a lawsuit brought by the Hamburg consumer protection agency, finding that Mondelez had breached Germany’s law on unfair competition by allowing packaging to convey the false impression that the product remained unchanged. Judges concluded that consumers deserved a clear and prominently visible notice on the wrapper for at least four months following any quantity reduction, a standard the company failed to meet.
Making the move harder to defend, the bar’s retail price rose simultaneously from €1.49 to €1.99, meaning shoppers paid more while receiving less.
“A small inscription, which is also hidden behind cardboard flaps, is not enough,” said Armin Valet, a food expert at the Hamburg consumer protection agency.
Mondelez, whose portfolio includes Oreo and Toblerone alongside Milka, contested the findings, arguing that the new weight appeared clearly on packaging and that customers had been informed through social media. The company attributed the size reduction to a sharp rise in cocoa and other ingredient costs, the same supply pressures emanating from West Africa, including Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, that have reshaped global chocolate markets since 2024.
The ruling is not yet final. Mondelez has one month to appeal.
The case arrives at a difficult moment for European chocolate makers, who are still processing costly cocoa purchased during the 2024 supply crisis, when prices briefly exceeded $12,000 per tonne. Lower futures prices since then have yet to reach supermarket shelves, leaving manufacturers caught between stubborn cost bases and increasingly scrutinous consumers.
Consumer groups in Germany are now calling for legislation that would require companies to display a prominent warning for at least six months when any product quantity drops, and to physically reduce packaging dimensions to reflect the smaller contents. Legal observers expect the Bremen ruling to influence how courts elsewhere in Europe approach similar cases.
