A German court has ruled that the manufacturer of Milka's classic Alpine Milk chocolate bar knowingly deceived customers by reducing the weight by 10 grams, while making no noticeable changes to its packaging and raising its price.

According to BBC News, Mondelēz International cut the official weight of its "Alpenmilch" bar sold in Germany from 100 grams to 90 grams, making it a millimeter thinner. The company also set the new, lighter bar's price at €1.99 ($2.33), up from the €1.49 it had charged for the chocolate at the start of 2025. In its ruling, a district court in Bremen, Germany, said that by not changing the packaging, Mondelēz "visually conveyed [the] expectation" of a product known to consumers to years.

Mondelēz had argued in court that the lower weight had been made clearly visible on the packaging of its Alpenmilch bars, and that the weight of the bars actually fluctuated between 81 and 100 grams depending on the product. The company had initially made the decision to make the bars lighter in response to rising cocoa costs in West Africa, stemming from a series of poor harvest brought on by persistent drought conditions.

In a statement to BBC News, Mondelēz said that it is "taking the decision of the court seriously," and that it plans to look at the ruling in detail. However, the ruling also gives the company a month to appeal before it takes effect. Mondelēz is known as the world's largest confectionary company, and manufactures cookies, crackers and candy for a range of high-profile brands, including Oreo, Ritz, Triscuit, Toblerone, Cadbury, Nabisco and Chips Ahoy among many others.