Brands
Product of the Year relaunches in India to police innovation claims
New logo, global muscle and consumer research power India reboot
MUMBAI: Product of the Year (POY), the global consumer-voted platform for product innovation, has relaunched in India with a refreshed identity and a sharper ambition: to become the country’s benchmark for consumer-validated innovation.
The relaunch introduces a new logo, renewed positioning and an expanded role that goes beyond an annual award. Operating in more than 40 countries, POY positions itself as an independent validation platform backed by large-scale consumer research, rather than jury-led opinion.
The POY mark has previously been carried by major global and Indian companies including Hindustan Unilever, P&G, Nestlé, ITC, Marico, Godrej, L’Oréal, Samsung, Philips, Havells, Haier, ICICI Prudential Life, Axis Max Life and Tata AIA Life Insurance.
Product of the Year global CEO Mike Nolan, said the programme was built on a simple idea: innovation must be validated by consumers, not claimed by brands. He described India as one of the world’s most dynamic innovation markets, where trust and credibility increasingly shape purchase decisions.
In India, POY will be backed by NielsenIQ as its exclusive research partner, with winners determined through independent consumer evaluation of real products and services. The platform aims to help brands move from marketing claims to evidence, particularly as categories become crowded with “new” and “improved” messaging.
Product of the Year India CEO Raj Arora, said brands are investing heavily in R&D and consumer-centric innovation, but credibility remains the missing link. The relaunched platform, he said, is designed to serve as proof: helping brands strengthen launches, support premiumisation and signal innovation maturity to leadership and trade partners.
POY is positioning itself as a brand-building and validation platform, enabling winners to leverage the recognition across retail, media, digital campaigns and consumer touchpoints.
Entries for the upcoming edition of Product of the Year India are now open, with winners earning the right to carry the globally recognised POY mark following NielsenIQ-led consumer research.
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.
