Mumbai Dabbawala

Mumbai Dabbawala is an Indian organisation that delivers fresh and hot food, in Mumbai.

It was formed in 1890, as a lunch delivery service by Mahadeo Havaji Bachche with about a hundred men.

Later, the organisation was registered as a charitable trust in 1956 under the name “Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust.

”However, its commercial business was registered as “Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier’s Association” in 1968.

How it works

The organization delivers and takes back lunch boxes for its subscribers across Mumbai.

It’s 5,000 odd delivery men pick-up about 2 Lakh tiffin boxes from homes and restaurants, across the city to deliver to their intended destinations.

They do it via hand-carts, bicycles and local trains.

The dabbawalas work very professionally in terms of their delivery and distribution system.

Every dabba (tiffin-box) is marked with a different colour for their segregation.

This marking represents:

 Abbreviations for collection points.
 Colour code for starting station.
 Marking for the destination station.
 Markings for handling dabbawala at destination, building and floor.

Achievements

 They have managed to achieve a streak of 120 years of non-stop service.

The only time they stopped their service was for one day and that was to support Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption in 2011.

 Some of the major corporations like Microsoft and HUL take the help of these dabbawalas for their advertising campaigns.

 Dabbawala’s service has admirers around the globe. Virgin Group owner, Richard Branson is one of them.

 The Dabbawalas were invited to meet Prince Charles, the British heir to the throne when he visited India in 2003. As a gesture of respect, dabbawalas presented him a saree for his bride and a Maharashtrian turban‍for himself at his wedding.

 The organisation was a topic of research and studies by Harvard Business School in 2010.guess s