Brands
DHFL signs Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador
MUMBAI: DHFL, a housing finance company, has announced Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. This is the company’s first such brand association in its 30 year journey of providing financial access for home buying amongst Indian customers.
DHFL chairman and MD Kapil Wadhawan said, “We are extremely pleased to have Shah Rukh Khan as DHFL’s brand ambassador. Today, DHFL is on its way to becoming a large financial services institution, reaching out to customers across the country, with its customised products and solutions. Shah Rukh Khan, with his people connect driven by diverse performances, has enthralled Indians over the years. This resonates with our brand philosophy of being able to cater to customers with tailor-made financial options, designed to suit their evolving needs. In this context, Shah Rukh Khan is a perfect brand ambassador in our endeavour to connect with every Indian for their financial well-being, today and in the future.”
Shah Rukh Khan said, “It is an honour to be associated with DHFL. I truly believe that owning a home is the first step towards ensuring a secure and confident future for every family. I personally believe that DHFL’s mission of enabling home ownership amongst every Indian is as relevant today, as it was 30 years ago when DHFL began operations. It is exciting that, now I am associated with them as a brand ambassador in their journey of catering to customers with effective and relevant financial services products.”
DHFL has been marketing its solutions to customers across 550 locations in India through national and regional level advertisement and event campaigns.
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.
