McVitie and Price first made Jaffa Cakes in 1927, naming them after Jaffa oranges, a popular British variety, to suggest sweetness and a Mediterranean origin. The jam is actually apricot, with tangerine oil. The name was never trademarked, so it became a generic term that other makers use. In 1991 the tax authorities argued that Jaffa Cakes were chocolate-covered biscuits and should be subject to VAT. A VAT tribunal ruled they were cakes, partly because cakes harden as they go stale while biscuits go soft. The company also produced a 12-inch version to argue that size did not matter.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.