Brands
Olympic village runs dry as Milan-Cortina athletes exhaust condom stocks
Officials promise fresh supplies after athletes complain of shortages
MILAN: Just days into the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026, organisers have been caught flat-footed after free condoms at the athletes’ village ran out entirely.
An initial stock of fewer than 10,000 packs, distributed as part of standard Olympic health provision, was exhausted within three days, according to Italian daily La Stampa. Athletes have since complained about the absence of replacements, despite assurances from officials that fresh supplies are on the way. No delivery date has been confirmed.
The scale of demand appears to have taken organisers by surprise. By comparison, athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics reportedly received around 300,000 condoms, roughly two per athlete per day, highlighting how modest the Winter Games allocation was by modern Olympic standards.
The issue briefly spilled into the public arena last week when governor of Lombardy Attilio Fontana, addressed the matter on social media. Free condoms, he said, were an established Olympic practice dating back to the Seoul 1988 Olympics, aimed at promoting awareness of sexually transmitted diseases.
Fuel was added to the moment when Spanish figure skater Olivia Smart posted a video on Instagram showing condoms branded with the Lombardy region’s yellow logo. “I found them,” she said cheerfully. “They have everything you need.” The clip swiftly went viral.
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.
