iWorld
McCain StarChef season two to air exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar India
Mumbai: Prepare for the ultimate cooking showdown as McCain’s StarChef Season 2 is coming on Disney+ Hotstar! After a successful premiere on GOODTiMES, the show will now stream exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar, airing on the platform from 15 May 2024.
Building on the success of the inaugural season, Season 2 boasted an expanded format with five thrilling episodes. Four episodes were dedicated to the diverse culinary landscapes of each region in India. This season also featured a wildcard entry. The panel of judges for McCain StarChef Season 2 is a stellar line-up of culinary luminaries. Leading the charge in the grand finale was the renowned chef Manish Mehrotra, while the regional episodes were graced by the discerning palates of Anahita Dhondy and Aditya Bal.
Commenting on the brand-new season, McCain Foods India director – sales and marketing (food services, QSR and exports) Samantha Dutta said, “We are thrilled to bring McCain Star Chef Season 2 to audiences across the nation. This season represents a celebration of culinary diversity, talent, and innovation. The overwhelming response is a testament to the incredible pool of culinary expertise in our country. McCain StarChef is not just a competition; it’s a journey that brings together the rich tapestry of India’s regional cuisines. We are honoured to have esteemed judges, Manish Mehrotra, Anahita Dhondy, and Aditya Bal, guiding our contestants through this gastronomic adventure. Get ready to embark on a culinary journey like never. We’re thrilled to partner with Hotstar to bring this feast to the screens of every Indian household.”
Taking the digital world by storm across platforms, McCain has also launched an interactive Augmented Reality or AR Filter on Instagram for this launch. While consumers take part in the heat of the sharp competition by using this filter, McCain is also engaging students, or soon-to-be chefs – by placing a QR Code across hotel management institutes across India. Students will be led to the AR filter post filling a detailed form via this code, which will help scout for the next up and coming StarChef! The filter can be found here. – to be embedded as hyperlink.
This year, McCain StarChef received an overwhelming response from across the nation, with an astonishing 7000 entries from passionate and talented chefs vying for the coveted title. The competition promised to showcase the best of Indian cuisine, reflecting the rich and diverse culinary heritage that defines our nation.
This partnership between McCain Foods India and Disney+ Hotstar ensures that the culinary brilliance of StarChef reaches audiences across the country. The show will be available in Hindi and English on the platform. Viewers can expect to be entertained, inspired, and blown away as they watch these culinary maestros transform ordinary ingredients into extraordinary experiences.
e-commerce
Visa report tracks rise of India’s affluent, experience-led spending
Affluent base doubles to 130 lakh, travel 58 per cent of elite spends.
MUMBAI: In India’s new luxury playbook, it’s less about owning more and more about living better. A new whitepaper by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) maps a decisive shift in India’s affluent economy, where spending is becoming more intentional, experience-led, and closely tied to personal identity rather than pure income growth.
Titled India’s Affluent Economy 2025–2026, the report draws on a Visa-commissioned Yougov study and VisaNet data across travel, dining, retail and lifestyle categories. The headline number is hard to miss: individuals earning over Rs 10 lakh annually have nearly doubled from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, significantly expanding the country’s discretionary spending base.
But it’s not just about scale, it’s about behaviour. As consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories are taking a larger share of credit card spends, positioning cards as key enablers of premium, lifestyle-driven consumption.
The geography of wealth is shifting too. Affluence is no longer confined to metros such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow increasingly mirroring metro consumption patterns.
The report highlights a clear pivot from ownership to access. More than 50 per cent of affluent consumers now use cards for elite memberships, while 7 in 10 are drawn to limited-edition drops and curated collections. Increasingly, luxury is defined by seamless access be it concierge-led travel or curated dining where time saved is as valuable as money spent.
Spending patterns reinforce this shift. Among the ultra-elite, travel accounts for 58 per cent of discretionary spends, far outpacing retail and luxury combined at 28 per cent. Cross-border spending penetration stands at 63 per cent, signalling a growing global outlook among India’s affluent.
Closer home, indulgence is becoming routine. Nearly 4 in 5 affluent consumers dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually. Dining spends are also climbing, with Rs 20,000 emerging as a new entry-level benchmark per experience and Rs 50,000 marking premium territory.
Retail, meanwhile, is becoming more selective. Three in four affluent consumers make a high-end purchase at least once a quarter, while one in four shops premium every two weeks. Luxury retail intensity is also rising, with 2 in 5 consumers spending over Rs 5 lakh annually, and a smaller but significant segment exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
Technology and wellness are carving out new roles in this ecosystem. High-end gadgets now see average spends of Rs 60,000 or more per purchase, while ultra-elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher engagement with cosmetic stores than non-affluent groups.
The broader takeaway is structural. Affluent consumers are no longer buying products, they are buying ecosystems. Integrated experiences across travel, dining, wellness and payments are becoming central to how this segment lives and spends.
As India’s affluent base expands beyond metros and aligns more closely with global consumption patterns, the real opportunity lies not just in size, but in speed. For brands, the message is clear: relevance will be defined by how early and how seamlessly, they plug into this evolving lifestyle economy.
