THE

DABBAWALLAHS
CASE STUDY by
Aditya Mishra
PGDM 1st year,
DIV B
 INTRODUCTION
The Dabbawallahs service of distributing dabbas (tiffins) was originally started in 1890 as they saw that a number of

people were migrating from all the parts of India to Mumbai. As India is a very diverse country people here have different

taste and food preferences which can only be satisfied by their own home cooked hot meal. The main business of

Dabbawallahs is to deliver tiffin boxes to working professionals. The number of dabbawallahs who worked under the aegis

of the trust grew more than 5000 in 2003. They delivered 175,000 lunch boxes daily in Mumbai also they covered a total

area of 75km every day. This type of distribution system was only possible due to the unique distribution strategy that

dabbawalla has followed over the years. Also this was only possible because of the team work and good knowledge about

the routes of Mumbai at that time which was know Bombay city.
 SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS :-
1. Low cost delivery system.

2. Teamwork.

3. No hierarchy which leads to fast decision making.

4. Using Mumbai’s longitudinal geography as an benefit to the business.

5. Low error services.

6. High discipline and brotherhood between the dabbawallahs.

 SWOT Analysis
Weakness:-
1. Largely dependent on labor work and manpower.
2. High dependence on Mumbai local trains.
3. Limited to only Mumbai region.
4. No extra incentives offered for the good work of an dabbawallah.
 SWOT Analysis
Opportunities :-
1. Opening their own inhouse kitchen which would provide food to the dual income houses.
2. Tie up with other hotels and dhabas for food variation.
3. Targeting colleges and PG’s to deliver home cooked meal.
4. With prepared meal for afternoon lunch also selling chopped vegetables for dinners to working couples.
5. Targeting other cities and states.
6. Going online.
 SWOT Analysis
Threats:-
1. Lifestyle changes of people.
2. Growing food delivery apps .
3. Work from home culture .
4. Covid pandemic .
5. Growing love for fast food in people.
6. Trains being late due to rain or any other issues .
 Competition analysis
. Dabbawallahs vs Food delivery and canteens

After reading the case study provided by Prof.P.K. Mishra sir one thing which I have realized is that dabbawallahs aren’t directly
competing with this food delivery apps as it may look like both of their business models are same of delivering food to people but if
we dive a bit deep in the business model of dabbawallahs we can see that the main business model of dabbawallahs is to deliver
home cooked food which means here the coustmers cooks food at home and wants it to be served hot in the office lunch time this
means that the dabbawallahs coustmers are cooking at home but in case of food delivery apps the food is not been cooked by the
costumers at their residence they are ordering food for hotels. This means they are not direct competitors with the food delivery apps.
On the other hand yes they are indirect competitors with Food delivery apps as after the introduction of the food delivery apps in the
market people have moved towards ordering food from outside as it is convenient and doesn’t involve the labor of cooking food at
home. They also face an indirect competition from the school and office canteen as it makes the availability of food in the lunch hours
and also doesn’t require the labor of cooking. This lifestyle change in todays generation is the biggest competition of Dabbawallahs
 What factors needs to be in place for a service
like dabbawallahs to work effectively ?

1. The most important factor is the hardwork and discipline among the dabbawallahs which needs to be in place as manpower is
the biggest asset of this business without them it would fall like a deck of cards.
2. As we saw a global pandemic was hit and this has harmed the business of dabbawallahs so the environmental certainty is also a
big factor in play.
3. People love for home cooked foods should be never ending as it is a big factor of the business .
4. Cost of Mumbai local trains should not rise as it would affect the cost of dabbawallahs delivery system.
 What is business model of
dabbawallahs and is it scalable ?
Business model :
The business model of dabbawallahs is to deliver home cooked tiffin from point A to point B and then returning it back on the same
day. It is a actually a system where a dabbawallah collects lunch box from a particular place and deliver it to his coustmer’s
workplace and again return it back on the same day. They work on a coding system that helps them to avoid any mistakes. It is a
unique organization where a dabba changes hands nearly six times and till there is no error. This service is carried within a specific
timeframe of nearly six hours every day, six days every week and for fifty-one weeks every year on a regular basis completing nearly
260,000 transactions including up and down services.
Is this business model scalable ?
According to me yes it is a scalable business as children will continue to go schools and colleges and also people who perefer home
food would like it to be served hot in the lunch hours. Yes it would be a big challenge for the brand to retain coustmers but loyal
coustmers would stick with them. Also if they try to open an inhouse kitchen to cater the needs of dual income houses they can
grow very easily. Also the services their providing is error free. They can also tap into other areas of business by tieing up with
delivery of products, many online companies need people to deliver their products on time with the speed and knowledge of the
Mumbai route then can easiy make profits there.
Is dabbawallah an example of world class
service can it be successfully replicated
elsewhere ?
YES, the dabbawallah business model is an example of world class service
It cannot be replicated because they have used the longitudinal geography of Mumbai city as an advantage and the second biggest
factor is the Mumbai local railway system, to reach a place in Mumbai there is trains within 3 mintues of gap in between and also
the transportation cost is also low which means the costing of dabbawallas is literally minimum.
The good knowledge about the Mumbai route also plays a big role in successful business.
As other cities don’t have the luxury of Mumbai trains and Mumbai geographical area it would be very hard for any other business to
replicate this outstanding delivery model .
Cost they charge for delivery of food is also low which would be hard for any other business to mange this accuracy of delivery in
such low costs.
Do you agree with Raghunath Medge’s
assessment of the future of dabbawallahs ?
Yes I agree with Mr. Raghunath Medge’s ideology that people will like to have home cooked lunch in
the lunch hours. Also he except the fact that it would be a great hassel for them to retain their
coustmers but to grow and be stable for the next century the need to make some changes, as times
have also changed in the past 125 years. Peoples lifestyles have changed. Gone are the days when
housewives you to just cook every meal for the house. Now with introduction of food apps and
canteens they have a indirect competition to the business. Also a new work culture is growing of
working from home work culture in this the person does not require to leave the house for work so no
tiffin needs to be delivered. So for sustaining for the next century they would also have to change
some aspects of business with time if they just stick to delivering to tiffins it would be a problem. They
would need to look for new areas such as in house kitchens , going in online , adatpting to online mode
of payment. Tieing up with other companies who need their products to be delivered because no
doubt a delivery system like this is remarkable so they could use this to expand their business horizine.
Thank you.