Parle's Melody toffee sees 50x q-commerce search spike after Modi-Meloni diplomatic moment

A viral diplomatic gesture triggered a 190x search surge and stocked out 40-45% of Blinkit and Zepto dark stores across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. Parle is rushing replenishment as the decades-old toffee rides 130M YouTube views and a 166% export growth tailwind.

— Filed Thu, 21 May, 2026, 06:00 IST · Source Times of India · Business · Updated

Parle's Melody toffee saw a 50x surge in q-commerce searches and 40-45% dark store stockouts on Blinkit and Zepto after PM Modi gifted it to Italian PM Meloni, forcing Parle to rush inventory replenishment.