Dabbawallahs of

Mumbai
A Case Analysis

Group 10
FT1730
43
Jishnu Goswami
FT1730
81
Saptarshi Sinha
FT1730
29
Dinesh Kumar K
FT1730 Amar Karam
11
Chandani
FT1720
47
Mayank Gaur

The Dabbawalas of Mumbai serve a unique purpose of delivering lunch boxes to

the working middle class in Mumbai. Home-made foods are the first choice of the
people as it is tasty, healthy and even cost effective. This business started with
the growth of manufacturing and service sector in Mumbai. The employees had
to leave home early in the day when lunch is not ready, to reach their workplace
on time. So, the dabbawalas take the responsibility of delivering their meal on
time.

Business environment of the dabbawalas.

Political
1. A large network of suburban railway helped the movement of dabbas
towards the various north to south destination points and thus the
dabbawallahs made extensive use of this network. This helped in reducing
the amount of food spoilage during delivery. They are highly dependent
upon train services.
Economic
2. Clients typically paid a very nominal fee between Rs150 and Rs200 per
month for delivery, depending upon the route and the geographical
distance traveled by the dabbawallah. They charge between Rs4 and Rs5
per transaction. The price charged to the customer was fixed and it
depended on two broad considerations - the pick-up location and the time.
For the customers who could not deliver dabbas by the stipulated pick-up
time, their charges were higher by up to 25 per cent.
3. Client service charges were generally increased across the board once
every two years by about 15 percent. This increase usually coincided with
a major development, such as an increase in railway fares by the
government.
Social
1. The dabbawallahs were a homogenous group in many ways. Its members,
traditionally male, hailed from the same geographical region. They shared
similar customs and traditions, such as gathering together for a week
every April for a festival in their hometown. While the minimum level of
education of a dabbawallah was grade seven, most never got past grade
eight schooling. Each dabbawallah earned a monthly income between
Rs5,000 and Rs6,000 which is considered good earning for a semi-literate
by Indian standards.
2. Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, a forum, provided opportunities
for social interactions among the dabbawallahs. The Dakkhan Mavle
Sahakari Patpedhi, a credit union that catered to the financial needs of
individual dabbawallahs by providing personal loans. They were also
involved in community initiatives by providing free food and
accommodation to low-income families at some pilgrimage centres.
3. By 2003, more than 5,000 dabbawallahs worked under the aegis of the
Trust. Together they delivered about 175,000 lunches daily in Mumbai.
They served a total area that covered approximately 75 kilometres (km) of
public transport. The dabbawallah business generated approximately

Rs380 million per annum. Given the two-way route for each dabba, the
number of deliveries worked out to more than 350,000 per day.
4. Limited access to education limits diversification of members to other
business and jobs.
5. Limited fund flow for the association limits the governing body to
implement welfare schemes.
Technological
1. The dabbawallah meal distribution network was characterized by a
combination of a baton relay system and a hub and spokes system.
The delivery processes had largely remained unchanged since their
inception even though the environment of service delivery had changed.
The delivery system itself is not amenable to the use of technology in
whatever form.
2. They require minimum infrastructure and practically no technology is
used, hence they are not dependent on suppliers.
Legal
1. The mukadam performed several administrative tasks that included
maintaining records of client payments, arbitrating disputes between
dabbawallahs and customers, and apprentice training.
Environmental
1. The labor-intensive textile mills in Mumbai made the single largest
contribution to the overall pool of dabbawallah customers. The majority of
dabbawallah customers comprised the Indian middle class of fixed income
earners. Servicing school children, on the other hand, did not require the
use of the railway system as most were located close to their residences.
Despite the shorter distances for delivery, the dabbawallahs charged more
for these deliveries since school lunch timings and their pick-ups varied.
2. Dabbawallahs had three primary lunch competitors: fast-food chains,
restaurants and roadside vendors. Kamat and Udupi were chains of both
fast-food counters that catered to the lunch hour needs of their customers.
Specialty food stalls, serving local favourites provided another lunch
option for Mumbais workforce, as did roadside vendors offering fast and
efficient service and a varied lunch fare. Lastly, some Mumbai companies
for tax shelter purposes offered their workers lunch coupons that
were redeemable at select food outlets known as Ticket Restaurants.

Competitors of Dabbawala
The Dabbawalas serve a unique purpose of delivering lunch to the working
middle class of Mumbai. There end to end supply chain transports homemade lunch from the customers home to the workplace and brings back
the empty lunch box to the respective homes. This requires special
competence, greater reach into the alleys of the suburbs and high work
ethics to maintain punctuality and reliability which is the main value
proposition of the dabbawalas.

The main competitors of the Dabbawals can be the fast food chains, road
side vendors typical of India and fast-casual restaurants. These food stalls
provide fast service and offers variety of options to the customers.
Another threat to the business might be some companies which provide
lunch coupons for tax saving purpose. These coupons can be redeemed at
local restaurants.
But due the uniqueness in their service the dabbawalas do not consider
anyone as their competitors. The middle class people prefer home-made
foods, which is healthy and aligns with ones taste buds. Most importantly,
these home-cooked food is highly cost effective even after including the
delivery charges.
Small courier firms can be potential threats but it requires plenty of
resource and skills to manage such a large business. It is difficult for any
one such company to motivate and employ such an efficient workforce to
challenge the business of the dabbawalas.
Large courier firms are reluctant to enter such a business because of the
low margin, high complexity and less scope for pan India expansion.

Values delivered to the Customers and how do they do

it.
The customers get to eat their home-cooked food even at their workplace.
Home-made foods are not only tasty but are healthy and cost effective. An
average courier company takes about INR 20 for delivering a packet of
1.5KG, whereas the dabbawalas takes only Rs. 4 to 5 per transaction. It is
actually a monthly contract which cost around Rs. 150-200. Thus it serves
as the most cost effective means to transport the dabbas containing
lunch.
The dabbawalas work with a remarkable reliability which is far better than
six sigma with 1 failure in 15 million deliveries. This ensures that the
dabba which is handed over to the dabbawalas will almost certainly reach
the destination. They have strong work ethics and they consider
themselves as entrepreneurs. Everyone works as a part of a team towards
a common goal to ensure no customer should go without food.
The Dabbawalas are a well-managed decentralized organization consisting
of homogeneous groups. Each group of dabbawalas have enough
autonomy of managing and distributing their revenues. It is headed by a
strong executive committee which looks after operational issues and coordinates activities.

Issues faced by the Dabbawalas and the wayout

Although, these days the dabbawalas are acquiring new customers in the
form of school children and by delivering food produced by caterers, its
customer base has decreased from its peak in 1980s due to closing down

of textile mills. Also, more women are joining the work force and they
dont get time to prepare lunch at home. But the dabawalas think that
these changes are superficial and will not affect their core business.
1.
The problem with the Mumbai dabbawalas is their aversion towards
technology. A more cutting-edge approach to technology could help
overcome the current limitations, but the organization is sceptical.
2.
Employees are more likely to quit the job due to low salary paid to
them, even after doing such an exhaustive and demanding job.
Solution by embracing change:The Dabbawalas can encourage people to register online if they wish to
use the dabbawala service. Such a step would increase their customer
base and the employees may get more salary. The organisation can
introduce what is called as the SMS Updates system. By doing this the
organization can expand its operations to other metropolins in India
because the working class still prefers home cooked food.
They can implement technological change to expand their business and
revenue which can lead to higher salary for the employee. They can
employee certain incentives system to employees to keep them
motivated.