Brands
Eveready’s toy truck sparks joy this Durga Puja
MUMBAI: When it comes to lighting up festivals, Eveready has gone beyond batteries and straight into hearts. This Durga Puja, the brand has built the Ultima Bahon, the largest AA battery-powered remote-controlled toy truck, to carry the idol of Goddess Durga into a celebration organised by underprivileged children in Kolkata.
The playful creation, powered by eight Eveready Ultima AA batteries, has already entered both the India Book of Records and the Asia Book of Records. But more than the feat of engineering, it has turned into a symbol of simple joy, bridging the gap between big-budget pandals and smaller, heartfelt pujas.
“Durga Puja is a festival of joy and togetherness,” said Eveready Industries India Ltd CEO Anirban Banerjee. “With Ultima Bahon, we wanted to bring smiles to children and give them a story they can cherish forever.”
The toy truck, designed with miniature depictions of Durga’s traditional bahons: the lion, owl, swan, peacock and mouse, is a nod to tradition wrapped in innovation. Actress Priyanka Sarkar, present at the unveiling, called it “a reminder that celebrations don’t need to be huge to be special, sometimes the simplest joys create the most unforgettable memories.”
Supported by the Vikramshila Education Resource Society, the initiative saw Eveready sponsor the entire puja for children up to Class 4, ensuring that their devotion shone just as brightly as the city’s glittering pandals.
Recognised as the largest toy truck of its kind, the Ultima Bahon will also be on display at the 95 Pally Puja Association during the festival. For pandal hoppers chasing lights and spectacle, it’s a gentle reminder: sometimes the most powerful celebrations run on nothing more than a few batteries and a lot of heart.
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.
