Milka Bar Voted “Deceptive Package of the Year” as Shrinkflation Scrutiny Intensifies

Overview

• Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg’s public vote drew 34,731 ballots, with Milka Alpenmilch receiving 66.7% to top a shortlist that included Dr. Oetker, Kölln, Jacobs and Knorr.
• The watchdog expanded its 2025 shrinkflation list by 77 products, reporting an average hidden price increase of 28.4% and isolated spikes approaching or exceeding 80–100%.
• Recent documented cases include Lindt chocolate shrinking from 80 g to 50 g as the price rose from €3.99 to €4.99 (over 100% per‑unit increase) and Dr. Oetker’s cake mix dropping from 730 g to 370 g with an effective 87.4% hike.
• The consumer group says a court will decide whether the winning Milka packaging is legally misleading, following the vote that signaled widespread customer frustration.
• Germany allows reduced fills but relies on unit price labels for transparency, while France, Hungary and Austria require on‑shelf notices and the EU has adopted a packaging rule to curb such practices from 2030; shoppers are urged to compare unit prices, track weights and report cases.