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.
Brands
CEAT signs Yashasvi Jaiswal as brand ambassador in multi-year deal
The tyre giant is backing one of Indian cricket’s brightest young stars, deepening a sporting association that goes to the heart of its brand strategy
MUMBAI: CEAT Limited has signed a multi-year partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, one of Indian cricket’s most electrifying young batters, effective 1st April 2026. The deal adds fresh muscle to the Mumbai-based tyre maker’s long-running bet on cricket as its primary marketing canvas.
Jaiswal’s rapid rise in international cricket made him a coveted name in the sponsorship market. His composure under pressure, consistency across formats and an almost unnerving adaptability at the crease are precisely the qualities CEAT wants consumers to associate with its tyres. The brand has historically aligned itself with cricketers who embody control and dependability, and Jaiswal fits that template with little coaxing.
Anant Goenka, vice-chairman of RPG Group, framed the signing in the language of shared values. “Cricket has always been an integral part of CEAT’s brand journey, and we are delighted to welcome Yashasvi Jaiswal to the CEAT family,” he said. “He is one of the most exciting young talents in Indian cricket today, and the qualities he brings to the game — control, dependability and adaptability — align strongly with the values we stand for as a brand. We believe Yashasvi has the potential to lead across tournaments and formats in the years ahead.”
Jaiswal, for his part, was equally enthusiastic. “I am excited to begin this association with CEAT, a brand that has such a strong legacy in cricket and has been associated with several respected names in the game over the years,” he said. “It is always special to partner with a brand that shares your passion for cricket.”
CEAT, founded in Italy in 1924 and now the flagship company of the US$5.2 billion RPG Group, produces more than 41 million tyres a year and sells across 110 countries. It is the first tyre brand to receive both the Deming Grand Prize from the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers and the World Economic Forum’s Lighthouse Designation for its use of fourth industrial revolution technologies — credentials that suggest a company comfortable playing the long game.
And that, perhaps, is why Jaiswal makes such sense. He is 23, already a Test opener for India, and almost certainly just getting started. For CEAT, signing him now is less a sponsorship and more an investment — in a career, and in a cricket-obsessed market, that has plenty of overs left to play.
