Brands
Mother Dairy introduces ice cream – chocolate with new brand ROCKET
NEW DELHI: Making an entry into the new category of Ice Cream – Chocolates, Mother Dairy a leading dairy player in India introduced a brand ROCKET, with two exciting flavors of French Vanilla and Belgian Chocolate.
Mother Dairy with this launch has also created a brand mascot named Neila that is synonymous to the company house color Blue! “Simply out of the world” is how we can define this product just as the Mascot is out of the world.
Mother Dairy business head dairy products Sanjay Sharma said, “Consumers prefer something new and unique, especially when we talk about a segment like Ice-cream. Classic flavors, new varieties, and something fulfilling for the taste-buds is how the segment is perceived to be. For these simple joys of our consumers, we thought of launching an exciting category of Ice Cream – Chocolates which are Extra Tasty, Extra Chocolaty, and Extra-Terrestrial, offering a rich mouthfeel and a delectable taste this season. The product will be available at an affordable price of Rs 20”
The product is specially curated for the young and eventful audience- the teens and pre-teens.
Speaking on the idea of a brand Mascot, he further added, “Given the name, the unique flavor/format and the profile of the TG we felt the need to employ a creative device that will engage and excite the imagination of our young target audience. Thus came the idea of creating a brand mascot for our new ice cream brand ROCKET, who will fit well in the creative universe designed for this brand. This led to the creation of an awkwardly cute and adorable galactic alien-Neila."
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.
