Brands
UP Warriorz rope in L’Oréal Professionnel as title sponsor for WPL season 4
MUMBAI: UP Warriorz, the Capri Sports–owned Women’s Premier League franchise, has roped in L’Oréal Professionnel as its title sponsor for WPL season 4, forging a partnership built on performance, confidence and women-first ambition.
The association pairs UP Warriorz’s positioning as a purpose-led women’s team with L’Oréal Professionnel’s professional beauty pedigree, extending beyond logo visibility into content-led storytelling and season-long integrations. The collaboration aims to spotlight confidence as a competitive edge: on the pitch and beyond it.
Capri Sports director Jinisha Sharma, said the tie-up reflects a shared belief in transformation and empowerment. “This is more than a sponsorship. It is about building narratives that encourage young women to dream fearlessly and pursue excellence,” she said.
UP Warriorz COO Kshemal Waingankar, added that the partnership aligns closely with the franchise’s women-first ethos. “It is about enabling women to perform at their best, in sport and in life,” he said.
L’Oréal Professionnel India general manager Mathilde Barthélemy-Vigier, said the brand’s association with UP Warriorz was a natural extension of its values. “Together, we celebrate women who challenge boundaries and inspire change. It is truly where the pros meet the pros,” she added.
The partnership strengthens UP Warriorz’s commercial playbook ahead of WPL season 4, as brands increasingly look to women’s sport for credibility, cultural relevance and long-term engagement.
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.
