Brands
Annu Gupta joins Haldiram as CEO – international business
Former Britannia executive to drive overseas growth and manufacturing footprint
DUBAI: Haldiram Snacks Food Private Limited has appointed Annu Gupta as CEO – international business, reinforcing its push to expand beyond India and build a globally scaled food brand.
Gupta joins the snacks major after a 13-year stint at Britannia Industries, where he most recently served as CEO– international business and played a key role in expanding the company’s overseas footprint.
Announcing the move on LinkedIn, Gupta said he was “humbled and excited” to take on a new challenge at Haldiram, citing the brand’s eight-decade legacy and its ambition to evolve into a world-class global player. He said the focus would be on building strong local operations and manufacturing facilities across international markets.
With nearly 28 years of experience in the FMCG sector, Gupta brings deep expertise in scaling businesses across the Middle East, Africa and other global markets: regions central to Haldiram’s international strategy.
Earlier in his career, Gupta held leadership roles at TGI Nigeria Limited, Iffco, Dabur India Limited and Colgate-Palmolive.
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.
