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German Grocers Slash Milka Prices as Chocolate Price War Escalates

Falling cocoa costs are giving retailers room to stage high-profile discounts.

Overview

  • Kaufland matched the discounters by cutting Milka 90‑gram bars to €0.77, after Lidl’s €0.79 offer and Aldi’s €0.77 undercut.
  • Aldi said its 100‑gram own‑brand bar will be permanently reduced to €0.99, down from €1.29.
  • Lidl linked its price cuts to lower raw cocoa costs, with Deutsche Börse data showing prices have roughly halved from a near €12,000‑per‑tonne 2024 peak.
  • A marketing professor described the deep promotions as a traffic‑driving tactic to lift sluggish year‑end sales.
  • Consumers continue to fault Mondelez over earlier hikes and shrinkflation, as Milka bar sizes dropped to 90 grams and chocolate was 74% pricier in October than in 2020, according to official data.