Brands
From teacup to perfume bottle, Prada’s chai goes luxury
MUMBAI: Prada has found a new way to serve chai and this time, it comes in a perfume bottle.
The Italian fashion house has launched Infusion de Santal Chai, a unisex fragrance inspired by the warmth and comfort of India’s most familiar drink. Designed as part of Prada’s Les Infusions collection, the scent treats tea as an experience rather than a flavour, evoking calm, familiarity and soft indulgence.
The launch was announced on January 7 via Prada’s official social media channels. The teaser kept things minimal and moody, featuring a brown-toned bottle, flowing tea visuals, sandalwood bark and green cardamom pods. The message was clear: this is luxury that whispers, not shouts.
The fragrance belongs to the woody and milky family. It opens with a chai latte accord layered over creamy sandalwood, lifted by fresh citrus and sharpened slightly by cardamom. Soft musks bring everything together, creating a clean, cosy scent that stays close to the skin.
Prada describes the perfume as an exploration of sandalwood’s creamy character, where spice meets freshness and warmth is balanced with restraint. It is designed to feel intimate rather than dramatic, making it suitable for both men and women.
The bottle reflects the same understated elegance. Finished in a warm brown hue, it features an engravable glass body and a camel-coloured cap in Prada’s signature Saffiano texture, keeping the design timeless and refined.
This is not the first time Prada has drawn from Indian-inspired elements. The brand previously faced criticism after showcasing footwear resembling Kolhapuri chappals at a Milan fashion show, which sparked debate around cultural appropriation.
Infusion de Santal Chai is priced at $190, approximately ₹17,083, placing it firmly in the luxury category. It is not an everyday purchase but a considered indulgence aimed at those who appreciate subtlety over spectacle.
Chai, it seems, has officially entered the couture cabinet.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
