Brands
India’s Millennials Say That Tradition Helps Build Connections
New Delhi: Mars Wrigley conducted a survey to understand India’s affinity for all things desi and traditional. The survey reached over 1.5 Million people across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and focused on decoding what desi elements top India’s list when it comes to making new connections – whether it is chai and chaat with family or even naach gaana at shaadis.
Conducted amongst millennials across the three cities, the results of the survey revealed an interesting fact that over 65% millennials feel that dinner time is when the family bonds the most. In fact, almost 50% of the respondents then went on to say that sharing a post dinner paan with family accounts for some of their fondest memories while growing up and that it was the one thing that built connections with both the old and young within a family. Majority of respondents also said that they would like to experience the traditional paan with a modern twist, with almost half choosing mint as their choice of format.
These insights are in line with the launch of DOUBLEMINT® Paanmint which is the first product by Mars Wrigley developed exclusively for the Indian Market. Inspired by the local favorite Paan, Doublemint captures the spirit of Bringing Together Old and New, through a unique twist. The product offers a tremendous burst of flavour and freshness – thus underlying DOUBLEMINT®’s promise of freshness.
DOUBLEMINT® Paanmint is available across traditional trade outlets for INR 10.
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.
