This food delivery company is bringing Mumbai's dabbawalas to London
London-based Anshu Ahuja and Renee Williams have founded a company called DabbaDrop, drawing inspiration from Mumbai's renowned dabbawala food delivery system. The dabbawala model, recognized for its Six Sigma rating, employs thousands from rural areas to collect, sort, and deliver home-cooked meals via bicycles, handcarts, and local trains. Emulating this model, DabbaDrop prepares and delivers homestyle meals in steel containers via cycles. The company began in a small kitchen with a four-member team serving customers in East London.
DabbaDrop saw significant growth during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown brought about a substantial shift for DabbaDrop, with the company witnessing a 300% growth during this period. This surge in demand led to an expansion of their operations, including the construction of a larger kitchen and hiring additional staff. DabbaDrop delivers food across the city, and serves thousands of customers who enjoy their homestyle meals.
DabbaDrop's menu: A blend of homestyle meals and global cuisines
DabbaDrop's steel containers, or dabbas, typically contain a hearty salad, a specific type of curry, daal, or sabzi (vegetable dish), and rice or roti (bread). The company also introduces variety by offering dabbas inspired by different cuisines from various parts of the world each week. This initiative showcases how Indian culture is being embraced globally, through the replication of Mumbai's famous dabbawala system in London.
