Most commonly sold as a powder in a green can, often depicting various sporting activities like badminton or football, Milo is available as a premixed beverage in some countries and has been subsequently developed into a snack bar, breakfast cereal and protein granola.

Milo maintains significant popularity in a diverse range of countries throughout the world, particularly in Australasia, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

In 1934, Australian industrial chemist and inventor Thomas Mayne, who was working at Nestlé, developed "Milo"[4][5] and launched it at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

[6] Mayne came up with his formula for Milo combining malt extract (made from malted barley), full cream milk powder, cocoa, sugar, mineral salts, iron and vitamins A, D and B1, in an attempt "to develop a completely balanced food drink which contained all the necessary proteins and minerals".

[8] Nestlé, which had taken ownership of a milk-processing plant in Smithtown, New South Wales, in 1921, started producing the product not long after the show.

[8] The name was derived from the famous ancient Greek athlete Milo of Croton, after his legendary strength.

[12] The thick opaque syrup is obtained from malted wheat or barley sourced from companies that produce these raw products.

Standard Milo consists of four main ingredients: malted barley, milk powder, sugar and cocoa.

[33] A higher malt content form also existed in Australia and was marketed in brown and maroon coloured cans.

Nestlé stopped advertising this higher malt form on their Australian products website sometime between March and April 2015.

[34] As of 2021[update], three other varieties are manufactured at the Australian plant: high protein, reduced sugar and a plant-based version.

The new version of these drinks contain almond and soy milk, the two core ingredients – cocoa and malt – remain the same.

[36] Traditionally in Australia and New Zealand, Milo is served mixed with either hot or cold milk, or sprinkled on top.

[41] In Malaysia, Milo is also sometimes sprinkled on ice cream or breakfast cereals, or mixed with milk into a paste and spread on bread.

In 2017 Colombian-manufactured Milo started appearing on shelves in supermarkets in the United States such as Walmart.

[citation needed] It can also be found in the United Kingdom in some Sainsbury's and Tesco supermarkets, which import it from Kenya and South Africa.

The Chilean version of Milo is still in production and is identical in taste and texture to the one that was once produced in Brazil.

[64][65] Milo cereal balls and a range of other derivative products are marketed by Tesco in Malaysia.