Brands
Namita Jadhav steps down as VP of corporate communications at JioStar
Media communications veteran wraps up a five month run as vice president at JioStar
MUMBAI: Namita Jadhav has moved on from JioStar, where she most recently served as vice president, corporate communications for enterprise, sports and policy communications, according to media reports.
Jadhav stepped into the role in November 2025 after being elevated from director, corporate communications for enterprise, sports and policy communications. In total, her stint at JioStar lasted around one and a half years.
Before joining the company, Jadhav spent nearly two decades with The Walt Disney Company, where she worked extensively across corporate communications and corporate social responsibility initiatives. During her tenure, she played a key role in shaping corporate messaging, managing strategic communications and strengthening stakeholder engagement across the media and entertainment ecosystem.
Across her 17-year stint at Disney, she was closely involved in building the company’s communications narrative, supporting leadership messaging and driving engagement initiatives across internal and external stakeholders.
Earlier in her career, Jadhav worked at global communications firm Weber Shandwick for more than six years.
With over two decades of experience spanning corporate communications, CSR and reputation management, Jadhav has built a reputation as a seasoned communications professional behind the scenes of some of the industry’s most prominent media brands. Her next move has not yet been announced.
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.
