Dunkin’ India closes stores amid ongoing coffee-focused rebrand

JFL closed 11 Dunkin’ stores last year and opened four new ‘coffee-first’ sites | Photo credit: Glenov Brankovic

Dunkin’s Indian franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks Limited (JFL) has closed 11 Dunkin’ stores across the last 12 months as it seeks to promote the brand’s coffee-first identity. 
 

JFL, which opened India’s first Dunkin’ Donuts outlet in April 2012, closed 11 Dunkin’ stores in the 12 months ended 31 March 2023 and opened four new ‘coffee-first’ sites. 

With 21 Dunkin’ stores now open across India, JFL said eight locations now fully showcase the brand’s renewed coffee-focused identity, which seeks to attract younger consumers with a revamped coffee menu, which includes a range of cold espresso beverages. 

The franchise group, which also operates 1,816 Domino’s restaurants across India, said it will launch the new identity across all of its Delhi stores soon.  

JFL’s full-year group revenues grew 18% to reach Rs. 50,960m ($618m). 

“We are pleased that we have become a Rs. 5,000 crore turnover company in this fiscal year. This achievement is a result of our never-ending efforts to elevate consumer experience through our portfolio of brands, not hesitating to make deep investments in commissaries and digital assets for continued future growth while maintaining very high financial discipline. We are confident on our unique ecosystem’s ability to tap on the potential that lies ahead of us and reorient the business to deliver sustained profitable growth,” said Shyam S. Bhartia, Chairman, JFL. 

Dunkin’ India’s strategy to attract younger consumers with a renewed focus on coffee is in keeping with operator trends across the country, but the chain’s falling store count could leave it lagging behind competitors in India’s rapidly growing branded coffee shop market. 

Domestic coffee chains Nothing Before Coffee, Blue Tokai and Barista have each outlined outlet expansion plans this year as they seek to reach 100-, 250- and 500 stores respectively across the country.  

Meanwhile, UK-based Pret A Manger and Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons, which both debuted in India within the last 12 months, are seeking to compete with more established international chains Starbucks and Costa Coffee in India to meet burgeoning demand for coffee and café culture. 

Tata Starbucks ended its fiscal year ended March 2023 with 333 stores across 41 cities in India, adding 71 net new stores over the period. Franchise group Devyani International Ltd currently operates 112 Costa Coffee stores across India.