15 May 2026
A German court ruled in May 2025 that Mondelez broke competition law by slimming a Milka bar from 100 g to 90 g while keeping the packaging — and the price — identical. The term they used was Mogelpackung: deception by wrapper. Our price data has documented the same move across the shelf.
What the data shows
In our German price records, Milka's LU flavour comes in two sizes: 100 g and 87 g. Both cost €3.00 at the median shelf price. The packaging looks the same. The weight, printed in small type on the back, does not.
At €3.00 per bar, the 100 g version costs exactly €3.00 per 100 g of chocolate. The 87 g version costs €3.45 per 100 g — 15% more for what presents as the same purchase. If you buy one Milka LU a week and always reach for the smaller box, you spend an extra €20 a year on chocolate you are not getting.
| Product | Size | Shelf price | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milka LU | 100 g | €3.00 | €3.00 |
| Milka LU | 87 g | €3.00 | €3.45 |
The 15% gap is invisible on the price tag. It only appears once you do the maths that the label is designed to discourage you from doing.
Why this happens
Shoppers anchor to shelf price, not unit price. A bar at €3.00 feels exactly like the €3.00 bar it replaced, even when it weighs 13% less. Weight reductions are cheaper to execute than price rises — the number on the tag stays put, the howl of complaint never arrives, and the margin improves quietly.
The Landgericht Bremen ruling pushed back on this logic. The court found that selling an identically packaged product at a reduced weight without clear disclosure is actively misleading, not just technically silent. It is the first ruling in Germany to apply competition law directly to shrinkflation.
What it means for you
The gram is now a more honest unit than the price tag. When two bars look the same on the shelf, check the weight first. In our dataset of 2,159 German chocolate SKUs, per-100 g prices run from €1.67 (Nippon puffed-rice chocolate, 200 g) to €8.69 (Lindt mini pralines) — a more-than-5× range that the shelf price alone will never show you.
German chocolate range — per 100 g
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Nippon puffed rice 200 g | 1.67 |
| Milka Oreo 100 g | 2.95 |
| Milka LU 100 g | 3.0 |
| Milka LU 87 g | 3.45 |
| Lindt Mini Pralines 100 g | 8.69 |
Source: Sivix, 14,083 price records · 2,159 DE chocolate SKUs · Feb–Mar 2026
Data source: Based on 14,083 price records collected by Sivix users across German supermarkets. Data reflects real shelf prices as reported at time of purchase (February–March 2026).
Products referenced in this story
Real shelf prices as reported by Sivix contributors. Tap any product to see current prices.
