Brands
Amol Parashar joins MS Dhoni as investor in House of Biryan
IIT Delhi alumnus invests after first being a long-time consumer
MUMBAI: Actor Amol Parashar has invested in cloud kitchen brand House of Biryan, joining former India cricket captain M S Dhoni as a backer of the business.
Parashar, best known for his work in Tripling, Sardar Udham and Gram Chikitsalay, said the decision followed his long-standing familiarity with the brand rather than a conventional endorsement pitch. An IIT Delhi graduate, he positions the investment as a move towards deeper, equity-led brand associations.
The partnership was unveiled through a social media video featuring Parashar’s trademark humour. Unlike standard celebrity tie-ups, the actor has taken on an active creative role, including the launch of a limited-edition AP Menu curated by him and hosted on Swiggy and Zomato.
House of Biryan founder Mohit Goyal, said Parashar joined the company “as a partner, not a poster face”, adding that the collaboration had been organic rather than transactional. The brand views the association as strategically important as it scales its cloud kitchen footprint.
With Parashar and Dhoni on its cap table, House of Biryan is strengthening its investor profile with public figures known for long-term credibility rather than short-term visibility.
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.
