Brands
Meesho elevates Nikita Pareek to director – legal
MUMBAI: Nikita Pareek has been promoted to director – legal at Meesho, marking a notable step in her steady rise through the company’s ranks. In her new role, she will help steer the firm’s legal strategy, handle complex commercial and regulatory matters, and support business expansion through stronger compliance and risk management.
Pareek joined Meesho in June 2022 as senior manager – legal and has since climbed the ladder at pace. She moved up to associate director – legal in January 2024 before taking on her latest leadership role at the start of 2026. Her progression reflects both the company’s growth and her expanding responsibilities across strategic legal functions.
Before Meesho, she built experience across several fast-growing technology companies. At EdgeVerve, she handled multi-jurisdictional product licensing and commercial contracts, including IT services, software licensing, robotics, AI, and SaaS agreements. Earlier, at Cure.fit, she led legal launches of key offerings such as Gymfit and Cult Live while advising on fundraising and strategic initiatives.
Her career began at Ola, where she spent four years supporting major expansion plans. As part of the strategic initiatives team, she worked on international market entries in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, and advised on new verticals including financial services, self-drive, and in-car entertainment. She also handled cross-border negotiations and compliance with global data protection standards.
A law graduate from the School of Law, Christ University, Pareek brings more than a decade of legal experience across consumer tech, SaaS, and digital platforms. With her latest promotion, she is set to play a central role in shaping Meesho’s legal and regulatory roadmap as the company continues to scale.
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.
