INDIA – Jubilant FoodWorks, the Indian restaurant operator has signed an exclusive agreement with PepsiCo as its new beverage partner for Domino’s Pizza, a fast-food chain it operates in India.
According to an ET Retail, PepsiCo will supply Domino’s Pizza with its portfolio of carbonated beverages of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7Up, Mirinda along with Lipton Ice Tea as part of the agreement.
“We are delighted to announce PepsiCo as the beverage partner for Domino’s Pizza India. The partnership will bring in fresh focus on our beverage portfolio.
We look forward to offering greater beverage variety and thereby enhancing the Domino’s Pizza experience for our guests,” said Pratik Pota, Chief Executive Officer & Whole time Director of Jubilant FoodWorks.
This ends the 20-year partnership with Coca-Cola which had exclusive partnership deals with Domino’s Worldwide, with only a few exceptions such as Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia where it serves PepsiCo brands.
Jubilant FoodWorks operates 1167 Domino’s Pizza restaurants across 269 cities in the country, according to its results for the July-September period.
The Company & its subsidiary has the exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
The company also has exclusive rights for developing and operating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants for India and has 32 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants across 10 cities in India.
The move could be part of strategy to bring a fresh perspective and focus to its beverage business within stores.
Economic Times had in August announced that the multinational brand was seeking to terminate its global partnership with Coca-Cola in the country.
The report indicated that Domino’s was in active negotiations with rival beverage makers such as PepsiCo, something experts said was geared towards cost saving.
“PepsiCo is honored to be the preferred beverage partner for Jubilant FoodWorks across its Domino’s Pizza outlets nationwide.
Domino’s consumers will now be able to choose from a range of their favorite PepsiCo beverage brands across carbonated soft drinks and Lipton Ice Tea with their meals.
This partnership further strengthens our position in the food service segment in India and consumers can look forward to some exciting new experiences,” said Ahmed ElSheikh, President & CEO, PepsiCo India.