Brands
Loud and clear Ottoman Plates Up a bold new food brand
MUMBAI: Some brands whisper their way into the market. Others arrive with a megaphone and a manifesto. Fifteen years after launching The Table, Food Matters Group is back with a very different appetite. Its new delivery-first lifestyle food brand, Loud Mouth, is less about what is on the plate and more about who is holding it. And to shape that personality-led play, the group has brought in Ottoman, the branding and creative design studio within the Black Cab Agency Network, as its branding partner.
Founded by Jay Yousuf and Gauri Devidayal, and conceived and creatively led by Alya Vachani, Loud Mouth was built around a mindset rather than a menu. Instead of beginning with cuisine formats or kitchen logistics, the team focused on defining the brand’s voice and its audience: confident, expressive and distinctly uninterested in being told how to behave.
Ottoman’s role was to translate that attitude into a cohesive brand system that could stretch across screens, packaging and physical spaces. Its mandate spans brand strategy and positioning, visual identity, packaging, creative direction, kiosk design, lifestyle merchandising and the Loud Mouth website. The aim was clarity and character over decoration, building a scalable identity that works as fluently on delivery apps as it does in real-world touchpoints.
“Loud Mouth was never a food-first brief. It was about identity, attitude, and community,” said Ottoman co-founder and creative director Imran Udaipurwala. “The food works because the people behind it know what they’re doing. Our job was to build a brand that could carry that confidence without overexplaining itself.”
For Vachani, the brand’s DNA is rooted in everyday utility with personality. “I lived on bowls and wraps in New York. They were quick, filling, and flavour-packed, the kind of food that fit seamlessly into a busy day. I wanted to be able to do the same here,” she said. “Loud Mouth isn’t just something you order, it’s something that fits into your day. It’s the lunch you eat between work calls, the post-workout meal when you don’t want to think, and the comfort food you eat in bed while watching your favourite show.”
Black Cab co-founder Aayush Bansal framed the collaboration as emblematic of how contemporary brands are built. “You start with a point of view, a personality, and a community. Everything else follows. Ottoman’s work helped ground that thinking into a clear, scalable brand foundation,” he said.
Positioned as unapologetically personality-led, Loud Mouth enters a crowded delivery market by attempting to speak before it serves. Early responses to the identity suggest that the bet on voice over volume may be paying off. Across delivery platforms, digital spaces and emerging physical touchpoints, the brand is drawing in consumers who feel seen rather than sold to.
For Ottoman, the project reinforces its focus on culture-first branding, where personality is not an afterthought but the starting point. For Loud Mouth, it marks the beginning of a venture that does not need to shout to be heard.
Brands
Jio Financial Services posts Rs 1,560 crore FY26 profit
Revenue rises to Rs 3,513 crore as investments and lending scale up.
MUMBAI: If money makes the world go round, Jio Financial Services Limited is quietly spinning a much bigger wheel. The Reliance-backed financial arm reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,560.9 crore for FY26, slightly lower than Rs 1,612.6 crore in FY25, even as revenue growth gathered pace.
Total revenue from operations rose sharply to Rs 3,513.3 crore in FY26 from Rs 2,042.9 crore a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in interest income, which more than doubled to Rs 1,901.9 crore from Rs 852.5 crore. Fee and commission income also saw a significant jump to Rs 597 crore, compared to Rs 155.2 crore in FY25, reflecting expanding financial services activity.
For the March quarter, profit stood at Rs 272.2 crore, broadly flat compared to Rs 269 crore in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue from operations climbed to Rs 1,018.5 crore, up from Rs 493.2 crore year-on-year, signalling steady momentum in core income streams.
Expenses, however, moved in tandem with growth. Total costs nearly quadrupled to Rs 1,982.9 crore in FY26 from Rs 524.8 crore in FY25, with finance costs alone rising to Rs 745.1 crore from just Rs 7.7 crore a year earlier, reflecting increased borrowing and scale of operations. Employee expenses also grew to Rs 387.3 crore, while other expenses expanded to Rs 755 crore.
Profit before tax stood at Rs 1,911.7 crore for the year, slightly below Rs 1,946.9 crore in FY25. After accounting for a total tax outgo of Rs 350.8 crore, the company reported its final net profit figure.
Beyond the income statement, the balance sheet tells a story of rapid expansion. Total assets surged to Rs 1,63,497 crore as of March 31, 2026, up from Rs 1,33,510 crore a year earlier. Investments alone stood at Rs 1,33,088.7 crore, underscoring the company’s strong focus on treasury and financial asset growth.
However, the year also saw sharp volatility in other comprehensive income, which swung to a loss of Rs 16,028.3 crore, largely driven by fair value changes in equity instruments. This dragged total comprehensive income for FY26 to a negative Rs 15,756.1 crore, compared to a positive Rs 14,870 crore in FY25.
On the capital front, the company’s paid-up equity share capital remained steady at Rs 6,353.1 crore, with other equity rising to Rs 1,27,500.5 crore.
The numbers reflect a business in transition scaling rapidly across lending, investments and fee-based services, but also navigating the volatility that comes with mark-to-market movements in financial assets. In other words, while the top line is accelerating, the fine print still carries a few swings.
