New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India’s toffee exports have witnessed a sharp rise of nearly 166 per cent since 2013-14.

Sharing export figures on social media platform X, the minister said exports of toffees, caramels and similar sweets increased from Rs 49.68 crore in FY2013-14 to Rs 132 crore in FY2025-26.

“India’s TOFFEE TALE would surely be melody to the ears! Exports have grown nearly 166 per cent since 2013-14,” Goyal wrote in his post, adding that the “sweetness of ‘Made In India’ toffees wows the world”.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a packet of Melody toffees to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during his visit to Rome.

The informal and light-hearted exchange between the two leaders quickly went viral on social media, reviving the widely popular “#Melodi” trend — a portmanteau combining the names of PM Modi and his Italian counterpart Meloni.

Meloni later shared a video of the interaction on X, where she was seen laughing with Prime Minister Modi while talking about the gift.

“Prime Minister Modi brought us a gift — a very, very good toffee — Melody,” she said in the video.

The Italian Prime Minister also thanked PM Modi for the gesture in her caption, further fuelling online discussions around the viral “Melodi” moment.

The hashtag first gained global attention during the COP28 Summit in Dubai after Meloni posted a selfie with PM Modi captioned “Good friends at COP28, #Melodi”.

Since then, their warm public interactions at international events, including the G20 Summit in New Delhi, have repeatedly attracted attention across social media platforms.

Earlier in the day, visuals and pictures from a special dinner hosted near the iconic Colosseum in Rome also attracted significant attention online.

The two leaders were seen sharing a casual moment, including a smiling selfie and a relaxed interaction that quickly spread across social media platforms.

–IANS

pk