Brands
Mother Dairy launches ‘SBI-Mother Dairy SmartChange Card’
MUMBAI: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable has strategically tied-up with State Bank of India (SBI) to launch ‘SBI – Mother Dairy SmartChange Card’ for Mother Dairy Milk Booths in Delhi & NCR.
The first-of-a-kind initiative in the dairy industry will facilitate consumers towards a more convenient mode of payment at Mother Dairy milk booths. These SmartChange Cards will allow the consumers to pay conveniently through this card instead of paying cash and particularly coins, for every purchase at the Mother Dairy booths.
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable MD S Nagarajan said, “At Mother Dairy we believe in always keeping our stakeholders at the core of all our activities. We realised that we had a dual problem of tendering exact change to consumers after purchase from booths and also for cash handling hassle for concessionaire due to usage of coins. While it left the consumers peeved, it was also not always possible for retailers to tender exact change all the time. This made us realise that while consumers were looking at a solution to this problem, so are the retailers who even do not like seeing consumers returning unhappy. Hence, we decided to launch the SmartChange Cards at our booths. We are hoping this initiative will start a trend and will ease the life of consumers further in the long-run.”
Nagarajan further added, “While the solution to the problem was apparent our next step was to find the right partner for this project. The choice to tie-up with SBI was not difficult, keeping in mind its strength and capabilities to provide this initiative with the required back- end support and infrastructure.”
State Bank of India corporate strategy and new businesses deputy MD SK Mishra said, “State Bank has always been the principal Banker for Mother Dairy and has an association with them since decades. Introduction of a “SBI-Mother Dairy SmartChange Card” is a joint initiative to facilitate cashless payment across Mother Dairy Booth outlets. The Card is specifically designed to be easy to use and convenient to cater to the needs of Mother Dairy Booth consumers and is positioned as an alternative to use of small notes / coins at Mother Dairy Outlets. “
With this launch, the SmartChange Card service will now be available to 150 booths in its initial phase of three months.
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.
