Milka

Milka is a traditional brand of chocolate confection, manufactured by US confectionary company Mondelēz International (formerly Kraft Foods) since 1990.^[1] It is sold in bar form and in a variety of specialty shapes at Easter and Christmas.^[2] The brand also manufactures chocolate-covered cookies, snacks, and biscuits with their same Alpine milk chocolate.^[3]

History

On 17 November 1825, the Swiss chocolatier Philippe Suchard (1797–1884) established a pâtisserie in Neuchâtel, where he sold a hand-made dessert named chocolat fin de sa fabrique.^[4] The next year, Suchard decided to expand his company. He moved the production to a nearby village, Serrières, where he rented a former watermill and set up a factory producing chocolate at a rate of around 25–30 kg a day. At this time, the chocolate was a very dark and bitter candy because milk was typically only added to chocolate taken in the form of drinking chocolate. It was not until the 1890s that milk was added to Suchard's chocolates, leading to the creation of what would be closer known today as the Milka alpine milk chocolates.^[5]

On 17 March 1996 the Suchard company had the Milka trademark registered. According to the official website, the name is derived from combining Milch and Kakao, which are the German terms for milk and cocoa, chocolate's primary ingredients. However, Croatian sources claim it to be a tribute to Carl Russ-Suchard's admiration of Richard Wagner interpretations by Milka Ternina (1863–1941), a famous soprano of the time.^[6] The chocolates are distinctively packaged in purple.

In 1970, Suchard merged with Tobler to become Interfood. A merger with the Jacobs coffee company in 1982 created Jacobs Suchard. Kraft Foods acquired the majority of Jacobs Suchard, including Milka, in 1990^[7] and made the purple packing a Europe-wide protected colour trademark. In October 2012, the global snacks business of Kraft, including the Milka brand, became Mondelēz International.^[8]

Advertising

Inflatable Milka Cow in Potsdam

The brand has a well-known symbol, a Purple Cow, which is a lilac coloured Simmental cattle (Fleckvieh) which are normally brown-white, with a completely white face. A cow was already depicted on the early chocolate packing in 1901 and appeared in billboard advertising from the 1950s onwards. A first advertising campaign displaying a dyed living cow was launched by Young & Rubicam in 1972. Today the Milka Cow sports a bell around her neck, and is usually shown in an Alpine meadow surrounding.^[9][10]

During the 1990s, Peter Steiner (1917–2007) became famous advertising Milka chocolate bars.^[11] The bearded septuagenarian portrayed an Alpine dweller who warns an urbanite about holding prejudices against people who live in the mountains: "Sie glauben wohl auch, dass wir hier oben etwas altmodisch sind. Aber Vorsicht: It's cool, man!" which translates as "You probably also think that we're a little old-fashioned up here. But watch out: It's cool, man!" In 1995 Steiner's song It's cool man reached fourth place in the official Swiss pop charts.

Production locations

Tramway advertising, Sofia

Today, the chocolate is produced at a number of locations, including Lörrach (Germany), Bludenz (Austria), Belgrade (Serbia), Svoge (Bulgaria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Brașov (Romania), Costa Rica, Curitiba (Brazil), Jankowice (Poland) and Trostyanets (Ukraine), Belgium, Argentina, and most recently, Chicago by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company for U.S. production and distribution.

Varieties

Milka is sold in various packages and flavors, differing depending on the country of purchase:^[12]

• Bars
  • Milka Alpine Milk - An alpine milk chocolate bar.
  • Milka Broken Nuts - A milk chocolate bar with pieces of hazelnut.
  • Milka & Daim - A milk chocolate bar with crusty pieces of caramel.
  • Milka & Oreo - A milk chocolate bar with an Oreo filling.
  • Milka Choco-Swing - A milk chocolate bar with a crunchy biscuit filling.^[13]
  • Milka Strawberry Yoghurt - A milk chocolate bar with strawberry filling.
  • Milka Bubbly - A light milk chocolate bar with bubbly air pockets for texture.
  • Milka & LU - A milk chocolate bar surrounding miniature LU biscuits in each square.
  • Milka Caramel - A milk chocolate bar with caramel filling.^[14]
  • Milka Whole Hazelnuts - A milk chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts.
  • Milka White Chocolate - A white chocolate bar.
  • Milka White Coconut - A white chocolate bar with pieces of coconut.
  • Milka Raisins & Hazelnuts - A milk chocolate bar with raisins and pieces of hazelnut.
  • Milka Raspberry Cream - A milk chocolate bar with cream and raspberry fillings.
  • Milka & TUC - A milk chocolate bar with TUC crackers around each chocolate square.
  • Milka Noisette - A noisette chocolate bar with hazelnut cream.
  • Milka Cow Spots - A milk chocolate bar with spots of white chocolate.
  • Milka Dessert au Chocolat - A milk chocolate bar with a creamy chocolate filling.
  • Milka White Cream - A milk chocolate bar with a cream filling.
  • Milka Yogurt - A milk chocolate bar with a yogurt filling.
  • Milka Milk & Honey Cream - A milk chocolate bar with cream and honey fillings.
  • Milka Cherry Cream - A milk chocolate bar with cream and cherry fillings.
  • Milka Vanilla Cream - A milk chocolate bar with cream and vanilla fillings.
  • Milka Pretzel Loves Choco - A milk chocolate bar with pieces of pretzel.
  • Milka Toffee Broken Nuts - A milk chocolate bar with cream, containing broken pieces of hazelnut, and toffee fillings.
  • Milka & Chips Ahoy! - A milk chocolate bar with a Chips Ahoy! cookie dough filling.
  • Milka Crispy Yogurt - A milk chocolate bar with a yogurt filling with crispy nuts.
  • Milka Marzipan Cream - A milk chocolate bar with a marzipan cream filling.
  • Milka Corn & Choco Forever - A milk chocolate bar with pieces of corn chips.
  • Milka Kiss Me - A milk chocolate bar with an orange yogurt filling.
• Toffees
  • Milka Toffee - A toffee filled with caramel and cascaded in milk chocolate.
  • Milka Toffee Hazelnut

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milka.

• Official website
• Images of Milka wrapper designs throughout the decades
• "Milka Suchard" Advertising poster from the 1940's