The country’s largest food service operator, Jubilant Foodworks, on Monday said it would not renew the Dunkin’ India franchise after the pact expires on December 31, 2026. JFL also said that it would evaluate options for the stores, which are 27 in number, including their sale and transfer of franchise rights in consultation with owners of the Dunkin’ brand.
While the Dunkin’ brand in India contributed about 0.61% to JFL’s FY25 revenue and a loss of roughly Rs 19.1 crore during the period, the announcement draws the curtains on a 15-year partnership. The JFL management had in previous analysts calls admitted that Dunkin’ was not able to deliver scale in a competitive quick-service restaurant market in India.
Jubilant Foodworks on Dunkin exit
On Monday, it said the Dunkin’ exit would have no material impact on its overall operations. In the last few years, JFL has focused its attention on newer formats such as fried-chicken under Popeyes, besides its flagship Domino’s stores, which give it 95% of its overall sales.
According to estimates by The Knowledge Company (formerly Technopak), the QSR market in the country is valued at over Rs 50,000 crore, and remains amongst the fastest-growing segments within organised food services in the country, expanding at around 10-12% per annum.
JFL had launched Dunkin’ in India in April 2012, a year after signing the franchise agreement (in February 2011), with aggressive expansion plans, pushing doughnuts as a fast-food item, much like pizza and burgers.
While it did reach a peak of 77 stores by 2016, JFL later shuttered half its locations due to losses, high operational costs, and a failure to establish doughnuts as a breakfast item. The company also repositioned the brand, pushing burgers and other fast-food items at its stores, but Dunkin’ remained a laggard, with its count dropping to 27 by December 2025.
In its December 2025 quarter presentation, JFL said it had closed seven Dunkin’ outlets in the last one year in a bid to cut its losses.