Overview
- Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg found the Milky Way multipack was cut from nine bars (193.5 g) to five bars (107.5 g) while the shelf price fell only from €2.99 to €2.29, which the group calculates as about a 38 percent hidden price increase.
- The consumer group named Milky Way its 'Mogelpackung des Monats' on Thursday to publicize the change and warn shoppers that the smaller pack makes the product significantly more expensive per gram.
- Mars told reporters it reduced pack sizes because of higher raw‑material and energy costs and because it is investing in product development and sustainable supply chains.
- The Verbraucherzentrale challenged Mars’s explanation by noting recent falls in cocoa prices and unchanged recipes and nutrition labels, and it pointed to at least 29 Mars-related shrinkflation cases documented since 2020, including a recent Bounty downsizing.
- Germany has no specific labelling rules for reduced contents, so consumer advocates say shoppers can miss hidden price rises and are urging clearer disclosure or legal change to make pack‑size cuts visible.