Shares of Parle Industries Ltd surged by 5% after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Melody toffees to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Key Points
- Parle Industries Ltd stock rose by 5% after Narendra Modi gifted Melody toffees to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
- Investors mistakenly believed Parle Industries, a listed entity, was the manufacturer of Melody toffee.
- Parle Products, the actual maker of Melody toffee and other popular brands like Parle-G, is a privately held company.
Parle Industries Ltd stock suddenly caught the fancy of investors after Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented Melody toffees to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday during his visit to Italy.
At the time of filing this report, some 801,316 shares were traded at the stock exchange and the stock went up by 5% to close at Rs 5.25 from its previous close of Rs 5. But there is a catch: Investors had got it wrong.
Parle Industries does not make Melody toffee, but Parle Products.
Case of Mistaken Identity
Owned by Vijay, Sharad and Raj Chauhan, Parle Products is the privately held company behind confectionary brands Parle-G, Melody, Monaco, KrackJack and Hide & Seek -- and, of course, Melody toffees.
Founded by Mohanlal Chauhan in the 1920s, the company came into its own after 1947 with its Glucose biscuits. And when the Janata Party goverment of 1977 expelled Coca Cola, Parle quickly got into the aerated drinks business, its Thums Up still popular in the country, apart from Fanta and Frooti.
Ultimately the original company was broken up among Mohanlal's five sons, with the privately held Parle Products focussing on confectionary.
Investors, like many others, believed that Parle Industries is the listed company that makes Melody toffee.
Melody Toffee's Global Reach
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Parle Products Vice President Mayank Shah said Modi gifting Melody toffees to Meloni was a 'nice way of pushing Indian products and giving it a global stage.'
Parle Products, Shah said, is 'thankful to PM Modi for giving us the global stage', adding that Melody is already exported and available in more than 100 countries.
He also clarified that the company is 'not considering listing on exchanges right now' and would prefer to remain private.
