Why were toffees so popular in India, especially around the time Parle launched Melody toffees? Because, unlike today, chocolates weren’t as easily available. Melody cost just Rs 1 and had a soft caramel exterior, a liquid chocolate centre, and, in a marvel of engineering, the chocolate interior was visible through the translucent candy.
Not being contrarian, but Melody Toffees never made it to my list of favourite toffees in India. I was more of a Cadbury’s Eclairs person. Of the local toffees, the ones my clearly miserly parents mostly handed us were the round, orange candy toffees, wrapped in transparent cellophane and kept in massive orange jars at roadside stores. They had a strong orange flavour, and you had to bite into them to make them break into little shards in your mouth, which you then crunched and savoured along with the sugar high they provided. More importantly, they cost just 5 paise a piece in the eighties.