Brands
JioStar appoints Chandru R as senior vice president, product
Former Amazon product leader to steer subscriptions and new bets
MUMBAI: JioStar has appointed Chandru R as senior vice president, product (subscriptions & new initiatives), tasking the former Amazon executive with steering subscriptions and new strategic initiatives at the company.
Based in Bengaluru, Chandru will lead efforts to sharpen customer-centric offerings, scale subscription products and build out JioStar’s wider product ecosystem. The role places him at the centre of the company’s push to grow both reach and revenue through smarter, more integrated digital experiences.
He joins JioStar after more than a decade at Amazon, where he held a series of product leadership roles across Amazon Pay and other consumer platforms. Most recently, he served as senior manager of product management, following earlier stints as principal product manager and senior product manager. During his tenure, he worked on prepaid wallets, gift cards, recharge and bill-payment experiences, and several core platforms that continue to power the service.
Chandru began his career in analytics, working at Mu Sigma and LatentView before pursuing an MBA at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication from PSG College of Technology.
In a note marking his departure from Amazon, Chandru reflected on the 11-year journey that shaped both his career and character. He wrote that the experience was not only about building products but also about “building myself”, crediting colleagues and mentors for the opportunities and lessons along the way.
With that chapter closed, he now moves to JioStar to build the next one, this time with a sharper focus on subscriptions and fresh strategic plays.
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.
