A German regional court has ruled that US food giant Mondelēz deceived consumers by shrinking its iconic Milka Alpenmilch chocolate bars from 100 grammes to 90 grammes while keeping the packaging virtually unchanged.
In a landmark decision against so-called “shrinkflation” today, the Landgericht Bremen court found that the reduction in content, without a clear and prominent notice on the wrapper, breached Germany’s law on unfair competition (UWG).
The court described the practice as a “relative Mogelpackung”, a deceptive packaging trick that exploited consumers’ long-standing familiarity with the purple-wrapped bar.
Judges ruled that the new 90-gramme version could not be sold if the 100-gramme version had been on the market in the preceding four months, unless accompanied by a “clear, understandable and easily perceptible notice” on the packaging.
Failure to comply could result in fines of up to €250,000. The verdict is not yet final; Mondelēz has one month to appeal.
The case was brought by the Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg (VZHH), Hamburg’s consumer protection centre, which accused Mondelēz of covertly raising prices.
The bar itself became about 1mm thinner, a change so subtle that many shoppers failed to notice it. The new net weight is printed in small type on the front of the pack but is often obscured by supermarket shelf flaps.
VZHH food expert Armin Valet said consumers who had bought Milka in the same packaging for years naturally assumed the quantity remained unchanged. “They are being deceived,” he argued.
The organisation had previously crowned the Milka Alpenmilch bar “rip-off packaging of the year” after a public vote.
The weight reduction took effect at the beginning of 2025, coinciding with a sharp rise in the retail price from €1.49 to €1.99.
Mondelēz attributed the change to surging costs in the global cocoa supply chain, driven by poor harvests in West Africa. The company had informed customers via its website and social media and insisted the new weight was clearly marked on the packaging.
In response to today’s ruling, a Mondelēz spokesperson told the BBC the firm was “taking the decision of the court seriously” and would “look at it in detail now”.
The Bremen case is the latest flashpoint in Germany’s growing backlash against shrinkflation.
Consumer groups have documented hundreds of examples across food, household goods and confectionery.
They hope the Milka judgment will encourage greater transparency and deter companies from using subtle design continuity to mask reductions in quantity.
Ritter Sport, another major German chocolate maker, has also reduced the weight of some varieties while retaining its distinctive square shape, although it altered the packaging more noticeably and marketed the change as a new range.
The VZHH is now calling for legislative reform. It wants manufacturers to be legally obliged to place a prominent warning on products with reduced content for at least six months and to shrink the packaging itself when the fill quantity drops.
Similar complaints have surfaced in the UK, where consumer group Which? has described shrinkflation as a “sneaky” tactic amid 14.6 per cent chocolate price inflation in the year to August 2025.
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