Mumbai Dabbawala Since 1890 : The Swiggy Of Mumbai

If you've ever been to the 'city of dreams' Mumbai, haven't you seen people carrying lunch boxes like in the picture above on the train platforms?

Or else you must have seen them carry the boxes in carts like these?

The Beginning

First and foremost, For those of you out there still wondering what is 'Dabbawala', it means 'lunch box delivery person' in Hindi.

A Parasi (a town in Uttar Pradesh, India) banker wanted homemade food regularly to his office hence, he gave this responsibility to a first-ever Dabbawala to get him lunch. The Dabbawala would prepare food from his house and bring it to the banker and get paid a small amount, which was enough for daily survival. Others seeing this liked the idea and the demand for these services began to hike. These small clans started cooking more and more and delivered the boxes with tasty foods to the people in the office in a hasty manner independently. The Dabbawala's also felt the job was not done with pressure as they never had anyone telling them what to do and what not to do (like its doe in the offices) and loved doing what they did.

Later on, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche saw the rise of opportunity in this field and created an organization for lunch box services. In 1890 Mumbai, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche united about 100 Dabbawala's around the state and started the lunch delivery service.

They used to collect the orders and prepare it at home, then through bicycles and the train reach their destination and delivery the boxes never being late.

Six Sigma rating of efficiency

Forbes Global magazine conducted an analysis in the year 1998, resulting in that their Six Sigma rating was 99.999999 efficient, indicating only one error in 6 million transactions could be made by the Dabbawalas. This made the receivers gain more trust in the service they were provided.

Earning's of Dabbawala's

These Dabbawala's earn a minimum of 8,000 rupees per month regardless of what they do.
8,000 is enough for some families in India for their spending in a month. They supply these to businessmen from banks, offices and anyone who wants this service.

Here's a video of a day in the life of a Dabbawala:-

The people's feedback

This business of service is more than 125 years old. People know that such service groups still operate in Mumbai and the awareness is not advertised. The people who attain these services also depend on it as most of them wouldn't be satisfied with the food given in the work area as it would be junk, old or costlier. The food provided by the canteen, cafes aren't entertained by the doctors due to medical issues, hence the officers prefer homemade food by the Dabbawalas. It's tastier and it is the exact thing they would eat if they were home.