Who Owns Milka?

Milka participates in Mondelēz's Cocoa Life program, the company's cocoa sustainability initiative launched in 2012. Cocoa Life invests in farming communities in West Africa, Indonesia, and Latin America to improve farmer livelihoods, protect the environment, and combat child labor. Mondelēz reported that as of 2025, Cocoa Life reaches approximately 250,000 farmers and covers approximately 215,000 hectares of farmland. Milka sources cocoa through this program.

The brand does not hold Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certification, as Mondelēz is not listed in the Leaping Bunny database. Mondelēz is not a Certified B Corporation. The company has committed to making all packaging recyclable by 2025 and has reported that approximately 93% of its packaging is recyclable as of 2025. Milka's lilac packaging uses aluminum foil and paper wrappers, which are recyclable in many European markets.

Mondelēz has set science-based emissions reduction targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2018 base year. Scope 3 emissions from cocoa and dairy sourcing remain the largest challenge, as milk powder is a primary ingredient in Milka products.

• Best-Selling Chocolate Tablet in Germany: Milka has held this position for multiple consecutive years according to retail data from NIQ and Circana.
• Best-Selling Chocolate Tablet in Austria: Milka is the market leader in Austria's chocolate tablet segment.
• Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index: Mondelēz International is a member of the Dow Jones Best-in-Class North America and World Indices, formerly the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
• Guinness World Records: Milka has been recognized for producing one of the largest chocolate bars in the world, though this was a promotional event rather than a product line.

Shrinkflation and Deceptive Packaging (2025-2026): Milka reduced its standard Alpenmilch bar from 100 grams to 90 grams without making the packaging change sufficiently clear to consumers. A Hamburg consumer group voted Milka Alpenmilch "Deceptive Package of the Year 2025" with 66.7% of the vote. In 2026, a German court ruled that Mondelēz misled consumers with the size reduction. Mondelēz stated that the change was necessary due to rising cocoa costs but acknowledged the need for clearer packaging communication. The company began introducing multipack formats to improve value perception.

Sales Volume Decline in Germany (2025): Mondelēz confirmed that Milka sales volumes fell in Germany in 2025. The decline was attributed to consumer frustration over higher shelf prices and shrinkflation. NIQ reported a 5.8% drop in chocolate packs sold across the category, while private-label tablet chocolate gained a 34.5% value share. Mondelēz responded with new four- and five-bar multipacks and adjusted pricing strategies.

Cocoa Supply Chain and Child Labor: Mondelēz, like all major chocolate manufacturers, faces ongoing scrutiny over child labor in West African cocoa supply chains. The Cocoa Life program addresses this through community investments and monitoring, but third-party assessments have found that child labor remains prevalent in cocoa farming communities. Mondelēz has not fully eliminated the issue and acknowledges it as an ongoing challenge in its sustainability reporting.