On 28th April, business magnate Anand Mahindra shared a video on his X/Twitter account with the caption “No better—or more ‘delicious’—evidence of reverse colonisation!” showing a startup in London being inspired by the popular dabba service of Mumbai.
No better—or more ‘delicious’—evidence of reverse colonization!
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 28, 2024
The video shared by Mahindra has a voiceover saying “We are Dabba Drop, London’s fastest-growing tiffin service. And we are looking for investors to help take our service nationwide. Inspired by Mumbai’s world-famous Dabbawala System we are on a mission to change the way Britain does takeaway, using the simple zero-waste system we currently deliver to all of London zones. This is done using India’s iconic and much-loved tiffin, instead of the single-use plastic containers.”
The tweet ended up going viral with many people commenting on it and liking the inspiration from Mumbai’s Dabbawala service. User @apurv_anand “Dabbawalla became a case study for a reason. To implement such strategies across cities/nations..”
User @wadhawan2011, however, commented that “Dabbawalas in Mumbai work on a different pattern, they collect food from respective houses & deliver at the work places This is more like a Swiggy, same food being packed at one place & then delivered to various people – anyway good start up”.
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Another user brought up how the West is taking up Indian trends while people here are more interested in Western foods writing “Sir here in Mumbai these dabba walas are going off while foreign is adapting it and we are moving more towards burgers and pizzzas.”
Another user wrote about the dichotomy in this “When we do it, Indian(Wokes) will categorize it as “downmarket” etc Same is with “Patravalya”(in marathi) i.e. lunch/dinner plate made of leaves. It is seen as a sign if lower class,but when Goras sell it as “Bio-degradable plate” for 5+ USD, Indian(Wokes) will find trendy”.
What Is This Business?
Mumbai’s dabbawala system is almost a century old and to date a very successful business model where delivery people or ‘dabbawala’ as they are called deliver fresh and hot lunches from homes and restaurants to people at work.
The dabbawala system of lunchboxes being delivered in the late morning filled with fresh food and then picked up empty at the end of the day is especially prevalent in Mumbai and is hailed for being so successful even after almost a century of existence having started somewhere in the late 1800s.
The dabawalla delivery people are iconic for their uniform of white cotton kurta-pajama and a white Gandhi cap and usually ride a bicycle or the train to deliver the tuffins to the workers.
In a 2007 The New York Times report, it was estimated that the dabbawala industry even after almost 125 years was still growing at a 5-10% rate per year. The system is applauded for its efficiency, budget-friendliness, punctuality, and even environmentally conscious ways with many business schools and institutes studying it on a management level.
Taking inspiration from this same model, the tiffin service in London called Dabba Drop aims to remove single-use plastic containers as the go-to food packaging option.
The inspiration is strong since the service uses the traditional and iconic Indian steel tiffin boxes with the food also being typical Indian plant-based dishes like paneer sabzi, rice, mixed vegetables etc.
The business also remains environmentally conscious by wrapping the tiffins in cloth while transporting them using cargo bikes.
This is not the first time that the West has adopted Indian lifestyle habits or systems upon realising their benefits.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: NDTV, The Economic Times, India Today
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: London, India, tiffin, dabbawala, anand mahindra, startup, viral, viral news, dabbadrop, dabbadrop london, tiffin service, tiffin service India, tiffin service london, dabbawala Mumbai, dabbawala Mumbai system
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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