thumb|Milka advertisement (1913)
Milka is a European brand of chocolate confectionery. Originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard, it has been produced in Lörrach, Germany, since 1901. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when it demerged from its predecessor Kraft Foods Inc., which had taken over the brand in 1990. It is sold in bars and a number of novelty shapes for Easter and Christmas. Products with the Milka brand also include chocolate-covered cookies and biscuits.
The brand's name is a portmanteau of the product's original two main ingredients: "" (milk) and "" (cocoa). In the present day, sugar and cocoa butter have replaced them as the main ingredients.
History
thumb|upright=0.6|left|Early advertisement for Milka
On 17 November 1825, Swiss chocolatier Philippe Suchard (1797–1884) established a pâtisserie in Neuchâtel where he sold a hand-made dessert, chocolat fin de sa fabrique. The following year, Suchard founded Chocolat Suchard and moved production to nearby Serrières, where he produced 25–30 kg of chocolate daily in a rented former water mill. During the 1890s, milk was added to Suchard's chocolate, closely following the launch of the Gala Peter brand, founded by Daniel Peter, another Swiss chocolatier.
Carl Russ-Suchard, Philippe Suchard's son-in-law, invented the Milka brand in 1901. The first "Milka" chocolate was packaged in the distinctive lilac-colored packaging. Their products were introduced in Austria in the 1910s in order to spread popularity, and by 1913 the company was producing 18 times more chocolate than they did when at the original plant in 1880. Interfood merged with the Jacobs coffee company in 1982, becoming Jacobs Suchard. Kraft Foods acquired Jacobs Suchard, including Milka, in 1990. In 2016, they further expanded their market into China. as conceived by Hungarian advertising agent Sándor Szabó living in Germany in 1971. During the 1990s, Peter Steiner appeared in Milka commercials.
thumb|right|A life-size Milka Cow display in a grocery store
Milka has put focus on "tenderness" being their main advertising theme since the 1960s.
Chocolate bars
thumb|200px|Alpine Milk chocolate bar
thumb|200px|Milka Schoko
thumb|200px|Nougat sweets
thumb|170px|Chocolate confections
- Alpine Milk – Milk-chocolate bar
- Broken Nuts – Milk-chocolate bar with hazelnut pieces
- Milka and Daim – Milk-chocolate bar with Daim bar pieces
- Milka and Oreo – Milk-chocolate bar with Oreo filling
- Choco-Swing – Milk-chocolate bar with a biscuit filling
- Choco and Biscuit – Milk-chocolate with cocoa creme filling and a layer of biscuit
- Strawberry Yogurt – Milk-chocolate bar with strawberry filling
- Caramel – Milk-chocolate bar with caramel filling
- Almond Caramel – Milk-chocolate bar with pieces of almonds and caramel filling
- Whole Hazelnuts – Milk-chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts
- White Chocolate – White chocolate bar
- White Coconut – White-chocolate bar with coconut
- Raisins and Hazelnuts – Milk-chocolate bar with raisins and pieces of hazelnut
- Milka Toffee Hazelnut
Other products
- Philadelphia Milka Cheese
- Hazelnut cocoa spread
European varieties
- Alpine Milk
- Grapes and Nuts
- Strawberry
- Milka and LU Cookies
- Peanut Crisp
- White Chocolate and Oreo
- Milka an Oreo-Sandwich
- Triple Choco Cocoa
- Colourful Chocolate Lentils
- Milka and TUC-Cracker
- Milka and Daim
- Noisette
- Whole Hazelnuts
- Cow Spots
- Yogurt
- White Chocolate
- Caramel
- Dark Chocolate
- Luflée
- Alpine Milk Creme
- Large Bar
- Whole Hazelnuts
- Strawberry Cheesecake
- Almond Caramel
- Peanut Caramel
- Milka and Oreo
- Chocolate Cookie
- Toffee Whole Hazelnut
- Alpine Milk
- Triple Choc
- Luflée Caramel
- Nut Nougat Creme
- Crispy Yogurt
- Dark Edition
- Broken Hazelnut
- Cocoa Splinter
- Dark Alpine Milk
- Salted Caramel
- Almond
- Raspberry