Brands
Bingo! chips away at Its past with a bold new bite
MUMBAI: Now that’s how you take the chips on your shoulder and turn them into a punchline. Bingo! potato chips has flipped the script on its “Big No” phase with a hilariously self-aware new campaign that sees the brand roast itself before making a fiery comeback.
Known for its trademark wit and quirky energy, Bingo! has never shied away from humour, and this time, it’s using it to reclaim its snack throne in north and west India. In the new campaign film, the brand cheekily admits it wasn’t quite everyone’s first pick before declaring, “Yes, we were a Big No. But not anymore!”
The bold relaunch features a complete makeover, right from edgy, gothic-inspired pack designs to two flavour-packed innovations, butter garlic, the garlic-bread-in-a-chip experience, and Himalayan pink salt, a refined twist on a timeless classic. With six striking packs that blend art, attitude and appetite, Bingo! is betting on curiosity, confidence and serious crunch.
“Humour has always been in Bingo!’s DNA,” said ITC Foods VP & head of marketing, snacks, noodles & pasta Suresh Chand. “This isn’t just a comeback, it’s a new energy, a new attitude, and a brand that’s owning its journey.”
Echoing that sentiment, Ogilvy senior executive creative director Rohit Dubey added, “When mischief and marketing meet in the right spot, magic happens.”
With this self-roasting, high-flavour reboot, Bingo! isn’t just back on the shelves, it’s back in the conversation. And this time, the answer to Bingo! is a loud, crunchy “YES.”
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.
