This presentation explains a summary of the unique business model of the dabbawalas operating in Mumbai.

1. A Case Study on
DABBAWALA OF MUMBAI
Submitted By:
Paras Sharma
Shradha Jindal
Jatin Gupta
Sakshi Priya

2. Dabbawala

3. Dabbawala of Mumbai
Introduction
• Mumbai Dabbawala’s carry and deliver freshly made food from home in lunch
boxes to office workers.
• Use six sigma principles to improve operations
• Capitalized on High Demand
• Use hub and spoke system of foot, bicycle, handcart and train based
transportation.
• Classic example of base of the pyramid approach.

4. Problem Identification
How the dabbawalas came to be
 To make proper home made meal avaliable to people working in offices ( 7 a.m. to
7 p.m. jobs)
 People travelling in public jampacked transport cannot take lunch with them
 People cannot eat outside everyday
 Offices don’t provide canteen/cafeteria.
 Outside/ street food is unhygenic and unhealthy
 Dabbawala’s target office and factory workers.
Dabbawala’s solved problem for 2,00,000 people.

6. Organization Structure
 Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association (MTBSA) - 120 years old organization. It
is the uncontested institution.
 3 tiered organization includes - governing council, mukadams and dabbawalas.
 Each dabbawala coordinates with other for delivery
 Group is responsible for day to day delivery
 A new member as capital has to bring - 2 bicycles, wooden crate for tiffins, a set of
white cotton kurta and pyjama and trademark Gandhi hat
 Meeting is arranged every month to discuss customer service and other disputes.

7. Community
 Belong to rural area of Maharashtra
 Descendants of Shivaji (Malva Caste)
 Employ from within own community/ village
 Work as farmers part time
 Elders take care of training
 Strong service commitments (no strikes)
 Discipline, Time Management and Punctuality
 Ownership and Pride in work

8. Sustainable Enterprise
 Financial opportunity to lower class workers/
migrants.
 Environmental Friendly
 0% fuel usage
 Use existing modes of transportation
 Use cheap labour
 Low Defect Rate (1 in 6 million)
 Coding involves redesigning as expansion
occurs.
 Adheres to all three measures of sustainable
development - environment, social and
governance.

9. Reasons for success
 Humanistic Approach - no highly educated workforce so no high salary structure.
 Predictability of operations
 Simple design which leads to low cost
 Process involves limited tasks such as sorting, loading and unloading
 Use of no technology or qualified personnel to operate
 Each person handles limited transactions
 Less errors as they don’t deliver to exact room in offices .
 Employ simple straight routes ( improves efficiency)
 Work on brotherhood and trust (flat organization)

10. Challenges
 Job hopping
 Poor public transport infrastructure
 Weather during monsoon season (spread of diseases)
 Increasing population
 Increasing expectations
 Threat from fast food joints
 Flexible work timings/work from home culture
 Catering services

11. Innovation and Creativity
 In times when phone was premium in India they encouraged spouses to put chits in the
Tiffin for their husbands.
 HIV / AIDS prevention messages
 Wore red ribbons to create awareness for AIDS prevention day
 Embraced technology ( went online in 2006 - know system, become members and
customers can give feedback and suggestions)
 Have inspired entrepreneurs to follow in footsteps.

12. Impact on Swiggy&Zomato
 First of all Dabbawala and Swiggy-Zomato work on different models.
 Zomato/Swiggy provides on demand food delivery from nearby food outlets.
 Mumbai Dabbawallas provide home cooked food everyday. You need to book
with them prior and their service is not on demand.
 Swiggy/Zomato people purchase unhealthy spicy food at very high rates and
even a millionaires will lust for home food if they continuously eat outside
food for 3–4 days.
 Dabbawalas brings cooked food from your home to your work place. Dabba
wala service will continue healthily.

13. Covid 19 impact
 Local trains were shut
 Railways worked on QR codes ( no smartphones)
 Rusted bicycles ( not been serviced for two years)
Low income and Few workers
 Work from Home ( fewer clients going to offices)
 Workers shifted jobs or moved back to villages
 During 1st lockdown Mumbai Dabbawala Association supported workers financially.
 NGO and crowd funding campaigns.