\n<\/p>\n
Many chocolate lovers consider shrinkflation a serious crime \u2013 and they have been vindicated after a German court ruled that the makers of Milka cheated consumers by cutting the bar\u2019s size, while keeping the wrapper the same.<\/p>\n
The three-week case in a regional court was brought by Hamburg\u2019s consumer protection office. It accused the chocolate brand\u2019s US owner Mondel\u0113z of deceiving shoppers by cutting the weight of Milka\u2019s classic Alpine Milk bar from 100g to 90g without significantly altering the distinctive purple packaging.<\/p>\n
Shrinkflation, where product sizes are reduced but prices stay the same (or even go up), has become all too common as manufacturers try to offset rising business and ingredient costs.<\/p>\n
After last year\u2019s changes, the Milka bar was a millimetre thinner and the price increased from \u20ac1.49 (\u00a31.29) to \u20ac1.99 (\u00a31.72).<\/p>\n
Ahead of Christmas, the Guardian revealed widespread shrinkflation in the confectionery aisle. This included lighter boxes of Quality Street and Celebrations, as well as smaller Terry\u2019s Chocolate Oranges. Toblerone \u2013 another Mondel\u0113z brand \u2013 had also suffered erosion with 20g shaved off its chocolatey peaks, reducing a 360g bar to 340g.<\/p>\n
Chocolate has become more expensive because of poor harvests in west Africa, in particular Ghana and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, where more than half of the world\u2019s cocoa beans are harvested. When asked about pack size reductions in the past, Mondel\u0113z has pointed to higher costs, ranging from ingredients such as cocoa and dairy, to energy and transport.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Milka maker Mondel\u0113z says it\u2019s reviewing the court\u2019s ruling.<\/span> Photograph: Finnbarr Webster\/Alamy<\/p>\n Mondel\u0113z told the Bremen court it had informed German consumers about the change on its website and social media channels. However, a poll saw Germans vote the Milka Alpenmilch bar \u201crip-off packaging of the year 2025\u201d.<\/p>\n It is not the first time Mondel\u0113z has been in the dock over its shrinking chocolate bars. In 2016, it faced a backlash after it widened the gaps between Toblerone\u2019s distinctive triangular chunks instead of putting the price up. Two years later, it reverted to the original shape.<\/p>\n The court ruled that a clear notice should have been included on the packaging to avoid confusion. The notice would be required \u200bfor at least four months to allow consumers to take in \u200cthe \u2060change, it said.<\/p>\n The ruling is not final, with Mondel\u0113z having one month to lodge an appeal. The company said it was examining the court\u2019s ruling in detail.<\/p>\n \u201cOur aim has always been, and remains, to communicate transparently, comprehensively, and responsibly with everyone who buys and enjoys our products,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many chocolate lovers consider shrinkflation a serious crime \u2013 and they have been vindicated after a German court ruled that the makers of Milka cheated consumers by cutting the bar\u2019s size, while keeping the wrapper the same. The three-week case in a regional court was brought by Hamburg\u2019s consumer protection office. It accused the chocolate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1911,8433,160,4470,1725,6066,1545,1462,24511,24512,666,6426,2843],"class_list":{"0":"post-49395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-bars","9":"tag-chocolate","10":"tag-court","11":"tag-drink","12":"tag-food","13":"tag-german","14":"tag-industry","15":"tag-maker","16":"tag-milka","17":"tag-milked","18":"tag-rules","19":"tag-shoppers","20":"tag-size"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}