Brands
The Laughing Cow opens a cheese factory for children at Mumbai’s KidZania
Mumbai: KidZania on Monday announced its partnership with the cheese brand The Laughing Cow. The announcement was made to launch The Laughing Cow Cheese Factory at KidZania’s Mumbai facility.
With this collaboration, The Laughing Cow Cheese Factory aims to encourage kids to role-play as cheesemakers, to learn while exploring the art of making their favourite soft and creamy cheese.
The cheese factory will introduce the children to the various steps needed to make cheese. This will help them understand the importance of choosing carefully selected raw materials that make The Laughing Cow cheese nutritious and delicious.
KidZania India chief partnership officer Prerna Uppal said, “We are extremely excited to partner with The Laughing Cow Cheese—a brand that is loved by millions of consumers worldwide. With our association with The Laughing Cow Cheese, we will be providing our visitors with a unique, fun, and educational concept in the form of The Laughing Cow Cheese Factory – India’s first cheese factory experience. Kids can role-play as ‘Cheese Maker’ and discover the uniqueness of The Laughing Cow Cheese and learn what it takes to make the creamiest and tastiest cheese in the world. We are thankful to The Laughing Cow Cheese, a brand that acknowledges and promotes the importance of laughter in a child’s growth and learning journey and is aligned with KidZania’s value of empowering the next generation and broadening their horizon.”
Bel India commercial director Alamjit Singh Sekhon said, “We develop and encourage nutritional and educational programmes in a fun and interactive way. This partnership with KidZania will educate kids in an engaging way about the importance of a nutritious balanced diet while they make cheese.”
He further added, “When kids come into this, The Laughing Cow cheese simulation factory, they will wear the hat of a cheese maker and they will learn, so each of them will be a cheesemaker and then they’re taken through the process of making the laughing cow cheese. It’s, in a way, contributing to the growth and development in a very fun way.”
This interaction will educate children on the importance of a balanced diet. The role-playing activity tends to empower children with a deep insight into the workings of the cheese-making process. It helps cultivate and boost their critical thinking capabilities as well as their motor skills.
Alamjit added, “The experience is definitely inspired by the way things happen in the original factory. But it has been made in a slightly simpler way with a little bit more manual intervention because, typically, when you have a factory, it is more automated and much larger. Here. The idea is to engage with the kids who will participate.”
On completing the role play, the children become The Laughing Cow certified cheesemakers.
Though this is exclusively for kids, Alamjit believes most of their communication is to parents as to how the company can be their ally in terms of creating something delicious and nutritious. “We typically reach out to people in the stores because they are the ones who are shopping, or in terms of our interventions through digital media, they are targeted toward parents.”
Alamjit also told IndianTelevision.com about plans to expand in KidZania Delhi after Mumbai KidZania’s success, “We actually look forward to seeing how things have been with the launch in Mumbai. And then we can possibly look at scaling it up with KidZania in Delhi as well,” he said.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
