Milk Chocolate
Milk chocolate is a solid confection made from cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids, dispersed and refined to a fine particle size so that the sugar, cocoa and milk particles are suspended in a continuous fat phase of cocoa butter.
It is a suspension rather than a solution, and almost everything about its behaviour follows from that. The fat phase is what melts, so the product is solid and snaps at ambient temperature and is liquid at body temperature, and the particles must be ground below about 25 to 30 micrometres or the finished chocolate is perceived as gritty. Milk solids, contributed as milk powder or as milk crumb, add lactose, milk protein and milk fat, and the milk fat softens the cocoa butter crystal network, which is why milk chocolate is less brittle and lower melting than plain chocolate. Lecithin or polyglycerol polyricinoleate is used at low levels to control flow.
It ships as blocks, callets, drops, chips or as bulk liquid chocolate delivered warm in tankers. Cocoa butter is polymorphic, so the material must be tempered into the form V crystal to give gloss, a clean snap and resistance to fat bloom. Milk chocolate does not dissolve in water, and it is moisture sensitive: even a small amount of water thickens it sharply by bridging the sugar particles.
We source bulk Milk Chocolate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Solid block, callet or drop with even gloss, no bloom, light to medium brown, uniform |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic cocoa and milk, no rancid, smoky or foreign note |
| Total cocoa solids | 25.0 percent minimum |
| Dry milk solids | 14.0 percent minimum |
| Total fat | 28.0 to 34.0 percent |
| Moisture | 1.2 percent maximum |
| Fineness of grind | 25 micrometre maximum, micrometer method |
| Plastic viscosity at 40 degrees Celsius | 1.5 to 3.5 Pa s |
| Lead | 0.1 mg/kg maximum |
| Cadmium | 0.10 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 1000 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 50 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are set first by composition. Total cocoa solids, milk solids and total fat are the three figures that define a recipe, and standard milk chocolate, high cocoa milk chocolate and milk chocolate coatings each sit at a different point. Coating and enrobing grades carry more cocoa butter or added vegetable fat for lower viscosity, moulding grades are formulated for a firmer set, and compound coatings made with cocoa butter substitutes are traded alongside but cannot be described as chocolate in most markets.
Beyond composition, lots are distinguished by the milk source, since roller dried milk powder, spray dried milk powder and milk crumb each give a different cooked and caramelised character, and by whether the chocolate is bake stable for use as a chip. Further specification points cover fineness of grind, viscosity and yield value measured on a rotational viscometer, sugar free and reduced sugar versions built on maltitol or another polyol, and certification for organic, fair trade or sustainable cocoa sourcing.
Applications
- Moulded tablets, bars and countlines, the largest single outlet
- Enrobing and coating of biscuits, wafers, cereal bars and confectionery centres
- Chocolate chips, chunks and drops for baking, formulated to hold shape in the oven
- Ice cream coatings and shell dips, where the fat set on contact with the frozen surface is the functional requirement
- Bakery fillings, ganache, mousse and patisserie work, usually as bulk liquid chocolate
- Panned and dragee products, where thin layers are built up on a centre
- Chocolate flavoured beverages and shakes, dispersed hot rather than dissolved
- Dessert sauces and toppings, blended with cream or with a sugar syrup
- Snack and cereal inclusions, in drop and shaving formats
Brands Using Milk Chocolate
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Milk Chocolate on the ingredient label.
- Tony's ChocolonelyMilk Chocolate 32% 180g ↗The brand's original bar, a 32% cocoa Fairtrade milk chocolate.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Tony's ChocolonelyMilk Caramel Sea Salt 32% 47g ↗A bar of 32% milk chocolate filled with crunchy caramel and sea salt.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Divine ChocolateDivine 45% Milk Chocolate 90g ↗A 45% cocoa milk chocolate bar made with Fairtrade certified cocoa.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Hawaiian HostAlohaMacs Milk Chocolate Box ↗Hawaiian Host AlohaMacs are whole macadamia nuts coated in milk chocolate.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Hawaiian HostMaui Caramacs Box ↗Macadamias covered in house-made caramel and then enrobed in milk chocolate.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Milk Chocolate
Top Milk Chocolate manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States milk chocolate has a standard of identity in the Food and Drug Administration regulations at 21 CFR 163.130, which fixes minimum chocolate liquor, minimum milk solids and minimum milk fat, and lists the optional ingredients that may be used. Products that fall outside those minima, or that use fats other than cocoa butter, cannot be labelled as milk chocolate and are sold as chocolate flavoured coatings or confectionery coatings. Milk is a major food allergen in the United States and must be declared, and manufacturers operate allergen controls and the preventive controls required for human food.
In the European Union the directive on cocoa and chocolate products intended for human consumption governs cocoa and chocolate products, defines milk chocolate, sets minimum total dry cocoa solids, dry milk solids and fat contents, and permits a limited addition of specified vegetable fats other than cocoa butter with a declaration on the label. Codex maintains a standard for chocolate and chocolate products with equivalent compositional categories. Cadmium in cocoa products is subject to maximum levels in the European Union, and milk must be declared as an allergen under the food information rules.
Manufacturing Process
Fermented and dried cocoa beans are cleaned, roasted, cracked and winnowed to separate nib from shell, and the nib is ground to cocoa mass, a fluid suspension of cocoa solids in the cocoa butter released by grinding. The mass is metered with sugar, milk powder or milk crumb, and part of the cocoa butter into a mixer, which produces a stiff paste. That paste is refined on a five roll refiner, where the particle size of the sugar, cocoa and milk solids is reduced to the target fineness and the flakes leaving the last roll are a dry powder because the available fat is now spread over a far larger particle surface.
The refined flake is conched, held under agitation and shear at elevated temperature for several hours, which drives off residual moisture and volatile acids, develops flavour, and coats the particles in fat so the mass turns liquid again. The remaining cocoa butter and the lecithin are added towards the end of conching to set final viscosity. The liquid chocolate is then tempered by controlled cooling and reheating with seed crystal, which establishes the stable form V cocoa butter crystal, and is deposited into moulds or onto a cooled belt, cooled in a tunnel, demoulded and packed, or held warm in tanks for bulk despatch.
