Melody toffees: PM Modi’s Melody gift to Meloni boosts Parle buzz
During his visit to Italy on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni with a pack of Melody sweets, turning it into an unexpected global branding moment for Parle Products.
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In a short video that quickly went viral, Meloni described Melody as a “very, very good marshmallow”; It leverages the already popular ‘Melody’ meme culture around the two leaders’ social media friendship, resulting in a surge in searches and purchases of the decades-old confectionery brand.
“I was pleasantly surprised… I had no idea that the Prime Minister was carrying Melody,” Arup Chauhan, managing director and owner of Parle Products, told ET. “We express our sincere gratitude to our prime minister for this gesture through our very own Indian power brand, Melody, which further strengthens India’s global position.”
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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal shared on “Made in India sweets are astounding the world,” he said, adding that exports of toffee, caramel and similar sweets increased from ₹49.68 crore in FY14 to ₹132 crore in FY26. The frenzy around the viral moment even helped Parle Industries’ shares soar 5% on Wednesday, underscoring the strong public recall of Parle, even though the company has no connection to Melody and its maker, Parle Products. name.
Priceless Visibility
This development may come as an unexpected development for Parle Products, the country’s largest biscuit maker, valued at Rs 15,568 crore. “We are looking to scale the reach of the brand globally across 100 countries where it is already present, including Europe, US, Australia and New Zealand,” Mayank Shah, Vice President, Parle Products, told ET. “While Melody largely caters to the Indian diaspora in global markets, we expect this (Modi-Meloni chapter) for the brand to resonate with global consumers as well.”
Shah described the segment as organic visibility that is “much more valuable” than traditional advertising. “You can’t have this kind of paid content with the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Italy. It’s impossible. I don’t think there can be a brand that can really afford that,” he said. Shah said there was a sudden and strong increase in Melody sales since the morning and there was strong interest on flash trading platforms. On Swiggy Instamart, Melody packs were sold with various pin codes, but remained available on Blinkit.
Experts said the episode underscores the staying power of legacy low-priced brands even as consumer companies increasingly seek premiumization.
“This is the kind of story built for virality; the brand will benefit from the attention for several days,” said social commentator and branding expert Santosh Desai. “This buzz could spark nostalgia in adults and curiosity in teenagers, perhaps fueling sales, but for a few days.”
This episode also reflects a broader contradiction in India’s consumer market; While FMCG companies are increasingly pushing premium products and affluent consumption, low-priced legacy brands continue to command hyper-emotional recall and visibility. According to officials, new high-value destinations for confectionery exports from India include Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Italy, UK, Oman, Iraq, Spain, Morocco, Kuwait and the USA.
“Europe and the Gulf, once barely on the map, are now making meaningful contributions,” one official said. “This geographical diversity reduces the risk of concentration and reflects growing international confidence in India’s confectionery quality and packaging standards.”
India exported sweets and confectionery to 74 countries in FY26; this figure was 50 countries in FY214; realization per ton increased by 2.4 times; this marked a shift from bulk, low-value trading to high-margin, diversified markets.
“While volumes were already significant at 6,652 mt (in FY2014), realizations were low, largely due to a few bulk volume markets such as Cameroon and Gambia, which alone accounted for over 50% of shipments,” the official added.
(Contributed by Kirtika Suneja)
