Inside Mondelēz: The Global Giant Behind Cadbury, Milka, and Toblerone

When someone asks who owns Cadbury, most people still say "Kraft." And technically, they're not wrong—but they're about fourteen years out of date. The chocolate bar you grew up with is now part of something called Mondelēz International, a name that sounds like it was generated by a corporate naming algorithm at 3am. Which, frankly, it might have been.

I've spent the better part of three weeks mapping out Mondelēz's chocolate empire for this piece—and the results genuinely surprised me. This isn't just Cadbury with a different business card. We're talking about a portfolio that spans Scandinavian drinking chocolate (hello, O'boy), Swiss mountain peaks, Alpine meadows, and organic cacao from across the globe. Some of these brands you'll recognise instantly. Others? You've been buying them for years without knowing they all answer to the same Chicago headquarters.

The Mondelēz Story: How a Kraft Spin-Off Became a Chocolate Colossus

Let me start with the history, because it's messier than you'd expect from a company worth over $100 billion.

Mondelēz International came into existence in October 2012 when Kraft Foods Inc. decided to split itself in two. The North American grocery business kept the Kraft name. Everything else—the global snacking operation, the chocolate, the biscuits, the gum—became Mondelēz. The name, apparently, is a portmanteau of "monde" (world) and "delez" (a made-up word intended to evoke "delicious"). Marketing departments deserve prison sentences sometimes.

But here's what matters: when that split happened, Mondelēz inherited one of the most valuable chocolate portfolios on Earth. Today, the company operates in approximately 160 countries with annual revenues exceeding $26 billion. The chocolate and candy segment alone contributes roughly a third of that figure.

The acquisition timeline that built this empire:

• 1990: Kraft acquires Jacobs Suchard, bringing in Milka, Toblerone, and Côte d'Or
• 2005: Cadbury acquires Green & Black's
• 2010: Kraft acquires Cadbury for £11.5 billion in a hostile takeover that made national news
• 2012: Kraft splits; Mondelēz inherits all chocolate operations
• 2021: Mondelēz acquires Hu, the New York-based organic chocolate brand

Cadbury: The Crown Jewel (And Yes, It's Still Made in Bournville)

Every conversation about Mondelēz chocolate eventually circles back to Cadbury. And for good reason—it's not just their biggest UK brand. It's their second-largest confectionery brand globally, after Mars.

Here's something that might ease your concerns: Bournville is still the heart of Cadbury's operations. The Birmingham factory produces 5.5 million chocolate blocks daily. That's also where the Global Centre of Excellence for chocolate R&D lives—so every new Cadbury product you see starts its life in the West Midlands, not Wisconsin.

Current Cadbury product lines under Mondelēz:

• Dairy Milk (the flagship, including Fruit & Nut, Whole Nut, Caramel)
• Bournville (dark chocolate range—new Salted Caramel and Chopped Hazelnut launched July 2025)
• Wispa and Wispa Gold
• Crunchie
• Creme Egg (though the recipe debate rages on)
• Roses and Heroes selection boxes
• Fry's (the oldest brand, dating to 1761)

The recipe controversy I can't ignore:

I've read the Mumsnet threads. I've seen the Trustpilot reviews. Plenty of consumers insist Cadbury chocolate "tastes different" since the Kraft/Mondelēz takeover. The 2015 Creme Egg shell change—swapping Dairy Milk chocolate for a "standard cocoa mix"—didn't help. Cadbury officially denies any fundamental recipe alterations, stating all products "meet UK and EU standards." But consumer perception is consumer perception. My colleague swears it's worse. I think it's largely the same. We've agreed to disagree, loudly, most Friday afternoons.

Milka: Alpine Chocolate With a Purple Heart

If Milka isn't on your radar yet, you've been missing out. This is the chocolate that dominates continental Europe—Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France—with a devoted following that rivals Cadbury's in the UK.

The brand dates to 1901, created by Suchard in Switzerland. The lilac colour? That's been the brand identity from the beginning. The cow on the wrapper (her name is Lila, naturally) has been grazing on Alpine meadows in various artistic iterations for over a century.

What sets Milka apart:

Milka uses Alpine milk in its chocolate—a claim that's actually backed by sourcing from the region. The texture is noticeably different from British chocolate: creamier, with a higher milk content and lower cocoa solids. Whether that's "better" depends entirely on what you grew up with.

The Lörrach factory in Germany is Mondelēz's largest chocolate manufacturing site in Europe. They produce around the clock with 500 employees, exporting to over 50 countries. Recent product launches include collaborations with Oreo—because when you own both brands, cross-pollination is inevitable.

Toblerone: The Triangle That Conquered Duty Free

Toblerone might be the most recognisable chocolate shape on Earth. Those distinctive triangular peaks—allegedly inspired by the Matterhorn, though the company has been coy about this—have been a fixture of airport shopping since air travel became accessible.

Quick Toblerone facts that surprised even me:

• Created in 1908 by Theodor Tobler in Bern, Switzerland
• The name combines "Tobler" with "torrone" (Italian nougat)
• Annual production exceeds 90 million bars
• Available in 122 countries

The recent controversy:

In 2023, Mondelēz announced that some Toblerone production would move to Slovakia. The Swiss government wasn't pleased. Under Swiss law, you can't use the Matterhorn image unless your product is made in Switzerland—so Toblerone had to redesign its packaging. The new design features a more generic mountain silhouette. If you're buying Toblerone specifically for the Matterhorn, check the fine print.

That said, Mondelēz is investing heavily in the original Bern factory—$79 million as of 2024—so Swiss production isn't going anywhere entirely. About 90% of Toblerone is still made there.

Green & Black's: The Premium Organic Play

When Cadbury acquired Green & Black's in 2005, plenty of organic chocolate purists worried. Would corporate ownership dilute the brand's ethical stance?

Five years later, Cadbury became part of Kraft. Then Kraft became Mondelēz. And somehow, Green & Black's has maintained its Fairtrade and organic certifications throughout. Whether the company retains the same "soul" is subjective—but the sourcing standards remain intact.

Green & Black's product range:

• Organic dark chocolate (70%, 85% cocoa options)
• Maya Gold (orange-infused dark chocolate—still a cult favourite)
• Organic milk chocolate
• Velvet Edition (lower cocoa, creamier texture)

My honest take:

The pricing has crept up. A 90g bar now costs more than some entire chocolate selections. But the quality is genuinely there—particularly the 70% dark, which I'd put against any specialist chocolatier. Whether it's worth the premium is a personal calculation. For me, occasionally, yes.

The Scandinavian Connection: Marabou, Freia, and O'boy

This is where things get interesting for UK shoppers exploring Nordic products.

Mondelēz owns Marabou (Sweden's most popular chocolate brand), Freia (Norway's equivalent), and O'boy—the iconic Scandinavian chocolate drinking powder that's been a breakfast staple in Swedish households since 1960.

O'boy in particular:

If you haven't tried Swedish hot chocolate, you're missing something. It's lighter than traditional British hot chocolate, designed to be mixed with cold or warm milk, and has a distinctive malty sweetness that's oddly addictive. Grocefully stocks it, which saves you a trip to IKEA's food market.

Marabou:

Sweden's answer to Dairy Milk. The standard milk chocolate bar (Mjölkchoklad) is everywhere in Scandinavia. The brand also produces the Daim bar—yes, that one—which many UK shoppers assume is British. It isn't.

Lesser-Known Mondelēz Chocolate Brands

The portfolio goes deeper than most people realise:

Côte d'Or (Belgium)

Named after the Ivory Coast cocoa region. Premium Belgian chocolate that's surprisingly hard to find in UK supermarkets, despite being massive in Belgium and France.

Alpen Gold (Russia/Eastern Europe)

Fruit-and-nut filled chocolates launched in the 1990s. Mondelēz has faced questions about continuing Russian operations post-2022, which contributed to Cadbury losing its Royal Warrant in December 2024.

Hu (United States)

Acquired in 2021, Hu represents Mondelēz's play for the health-conscious organic segment. Simple-ingredient, no refined sugar, vegan-friendly. Available in Whole Foods and some UK health stores.

Lacta (Brazil/Greece)

Major brand in both countries with completely different product lines for each market.

What This Means for Your Shopping

Understanding corporate ownership isn't just trivia—it has practical implications.

Quality consistency:

Mondelēz operates centralised quality control. If you love Milka in Germany, the version you find in the UK will taste the same. This wasn't always true under previous ownership structures.

Price movements:

When Mondelēz faces cocoa price increases (as they did significantly in 2024-2025), the impact ripples across all their brands simultaneously. If Cadbury prices rise, expect Milka and Toblerone to follow within months.

Product availability:

Mondelēz's distribution network means their brands are available in more places than independent chocolatiers could dream of. The downside? Smaller speciality brands struggle to compete for shelf space.

The UK Chocolate Market Context

Mondelēz isn't the only player, obviously. The UK chocolate market—worth approximately $13 billion in 2026—is dominated by:

1. Mondelēz (Cadbury, Green & Black's, Toblerone, Milka)
2. Mars (Galaxy, Maltesers, M&M's, Snickers)
3. Nestlé (KitKat, Aero, Quality Street, Smarties)
4. Ferrero (Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, Thorntons, Nutella)
5. Lindt & Sprüngli (Lindt, Lindor, Ghirardelli)

Together, these five companies control the vast majority of supermarket chocolate shelves. Which is why, when you're looking for genuine variety, services like Grocefully that compare across retailers become genuinely useful—you can find artisan and international brands that the big players haven't acquired yet.

A Note on Sustainability

Mondelēz has made public commitments to sustainable cocoa sourcing through their Cocoa Life programme, covering supply chains in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia, India, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. From 2026, part of Cadbury's Mini Eggs range will use packaging with 65% ISCC-certified recycled plastic.

Do I fully trust corporate sustainability pledges? My journalistic scepticism says approach with caution. But documented progress is better than no progress, and the Cocoa Life programme at least has third-party verification.

The Bottom Line

Mondelēz International controls more of your chocolate aisle than you probably realised. Whether that's good or bad depends on your perspective.

The case for: Consistent quality, wide availability, competitive pricing (usually), ongoing R&D investment.

The case against: Reduced market diversity, occasional recipe changes that upset loyal customers, the general unease of everything being owned by the same few megacorporations.

Personally? I think awareness matters more than boycotts. Know what you're buying. Know who makes it. And if you want to support smaller producers, use comparison tools to find alternatives. The chocolate market is genuinely competitive at the speciality end—you just have to know where to look.

Tom Hartley has been reviewing food products and investigating industry practices for over a decade. His desk currently contains samples from 14 different Mondelēz brands. The cleaning staff have requested hazard pay.